That's So Raven: Magna Man
by TruckieInTraining
Summary: Bayside High's Newest Student Becomes The Bay Area's Greatest Hero. Follow The Story Of Tyler McGinnis As He Remembers His Past, Lives In The Present, And Awaits The Future, As Well As Discover The Girl Of His Dreams In A Certain Redhead Named Chelsea...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Meet Tyler**

Tyler McGinnis sat in the locker room bench and laced up his Nike baseball cleats. Since he was a new student, having attended Bayside High School for only a couple days and not knowing anyone, he sat in the far corner, keeping to himself. Momentarily, he looked up at the others trying out for the team talking and laughing amongst each other.

"Hey, Tyler. Over here," someone from across the room called.

Tyler looked up, noticing who it was. Eddie Thomas, the only person in virtually all of San Francisco that he had even talked to. He was accompanied by another guy holding his baseball duffel bag.

"I'm Ben," the guy said. "What position are you going out for?"

Tyler stuck out his hand and shook Ben's. "I'm Tyler. And I'm shootin' for center."

"Cool man. I'll see you guys out there," Ben noted and marched off.

Both Eddie and Tyler slung their gear duffels over their shoulders and followed suit. Outside, it was a nice day with a few clouds out. Tyler was shocked to see that there wasn't as many people trying out for baseball as he thought. Near the dugout, he set his bag on a bench and grabbed out his mitt and put his right hand inside the flexible glove.

After about an hour of calisthenics and playing catch to get warmed up, Tyler, along with a few others took up position in the outfield to shag fly balls. From center field, he got a good look at the infielders, with Ben at shortstop and Eddie at second. Tyler then focused his attention just beyond them. Behind the homeplate fence, he noticed a two girls, one in particular–one with wavy reddish hair–caught his eye and he couldn't seem to look away.

"McGinnis! Low liner coming to you," the coach yelled as he tossed a ball gingerly into the air and swung his bat.

Still focused on the girl, Tyler quickly took a look at the ball that was hit squarely, but sinking fast. At the last moment, Tyler stuck out his mitt and dove onto the grass. The ball, however, landed mere inches from his mitt. Tyler slammed his mitt over the ball, trapping it.

"Nice hustle, McGinnis," the coach noted.

With that, Tyler tossed the ball away and trotted back to his position.

Soon, the sun was down and bright colors filled the dusk sky. Tyler, along with Ben, Eddie, and the others raced back to the locker room and to the coaches office where he would post who made the team, and who didn't. At the very top of the list, he saw his name, followed by both Eddie's, then Ben's. All three were on the Varsity team. In fact, everyone who tried out made a team, be it Freshman, JV, or Var.

"Very nice," he thought aloud.

* * *

Raven Baxter, along with her best friend, Chelsea Daniels, stood out in the school parking lot, waiting for Ben and Eddie.

"Girl, d'you see that new Pressure video?" Raven asked making idle chit chat.

"Oh yeah," Chelsea purred back. "Hey, what happened to that video you did with him?"

Raven looked around sheepishly and replied smugly. "I'd rather not talk about that... ever."

"Cory got you back. Didn't he?"

"With a vengeance, girl."

"Uh huh," Chelsea huffed. "Figured as much. Oh, you remember Jennifer, my friend from Veggie Camp right?"

Raven nodded affirmatively.

"Well guess what? She's gonna transfer here for the rest of the school year," Chelsea shrieked excitedly. "Now I'll have my two best friends in the world to see everyday!"

Through gritted teeth, Raven managed to say a strained "Great." She vividly remembered the last time Jennifer was here. At first, the two didn't quite get along to say the least, both vying for Chelsea's friendship. But in the end, the two made up and could at least tolerate each other, at least for Chelsea's sake. But having to see her five days of the week and having to hear her call Chelsea 'Chelly' and having to hear that ridiculous Camp Waccamosh cheer.

Raven felt a pain brew in her head as she tried to fathom all of this. She then noticed their two male friends emerge from a set of side doors–accompanied by another guy.

"Hey, Chelse? Who's that with Eddie and Ben?" Raven asked inquisitively?

Chelsea looked towards the guys walking to them. She then squinted at the third guy, who towered over Eddie and stood a clean half foot over Ben.

"I don't know," Chelsea replied still watching the tall male. "But he is tall–"

"Is he dark?" Raven asked gaining interest.

Chelsea nodded.

Raven's eyes quickly shifted back and forth, then looked back at Chelsea. "Dare I ask–is he handsome?"

Chelsea looked up at Raven, gingerly closed her eyes, and nodded with a slight grin on her face.

"Yo Rae, Chelse? I want y'all to meet someone," Eddie called out as he approached them. "This is Tyler. He just transferred here."

Tyler stuck out his hand, embraced, and shook the two girls' hands. "Pleasure to meet you." he smiled nervously.

He instantly recognized one of them as the girl who he couldn't take his eye off of while he was in the outfield. As he shook her hand, he felt his throat dry up and his heart began to race.

"Tyler, this is Raven and Chelsea–"

"–My girlfriend, that is." Ben promptly added in, wrapping his arms around her and giving Chelsea a kiss on her cheek.

It was so obvious to Tyler that Ben was letting him know that Chelsea was with him. In a way, it was kind of amusing, but Tyler didn't laugh or anything. However, something deep within him felt... strange. He always had been very shy around new people, especially those of the opposite sex. But now after shaking hands with Chelsea, his innards felt like they were going topsy-turvy. Not in a harsh way that would make him throw up, but in a way that he was just simply nervous, as if he was meeting the most important person in the world, like the President or Pope.

Quickly, he said his goodbye's to everyone and trotted off. Strangely, the fact that Ben and Chelsea were in a relationship seemed to affect him. It was a sensation that he had never experienced before in his sixteen years of existence. As he walked home, he pondered this. Why did one girl get under his skin so much?

"Mom'll know what's going on with me," he concluded to himself.

Tyler actually had a legit reason for not knowing what was going on with his emotions. In his short life, he had been through brutal military training since birth. Technically, he _wasn't _born–more like constructed like an elaborate model object designed for assassination and warfare. Unlike a normal human, he had lightning reflexes, enhanced strength and speed, and unrivaled intelligence. When he turned seven, he managed to escape his creators and now his mom–the woman who found him–was his only family.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Recalling the Escape**

Subject Tyler 044 ducked behind a stainless steel doorway and waited as a half dozen soldiers armed with M4 assault rifles raced past searching for him. As soon as they rounded a corner and were out of sight, Tyler cautiously peeked his headout, making sure the coast was clear. He then tip-toed from his hiding spot, making sure to make absolutely no sound at all.

Even with the blaring klaxon alarms and flashing crimson warning lights, Tyler's focused was intent on surviving as he knew that they would kill him if the chance was open. On the positive side, he didn't have on his normal gear of combat boots and military fatigues. All he wore was a pair of slippers and white medical scrubs. With those on, he would be able to keep significantly quieter while in the complex, but if he made it out, there was nothing but miles and miles of desert and doctor's garb wouldn't give him much protection from the elements.

"This way!" Tyler heard someone call out from behind him.

Quickly, he squelched the thought of being in the desert and focused in on the now. Tyler sprang up to his feet and dashed away. He rounded a corner and skidded to a halt–right in front of a pair of armed guards. Quickly they leveled their rifles, aiming for Tyler's head.

"Echo Three to Alpha One? We fond him–preparing to en–" the guard reported into his helmet microphone.

Before the guard had a chance to finish, Tyler grabbed the muzzle of the gun and bent it backwards, preventing the first guard from firing. With lightning quickness, he wrenched the rifle away from the stunned man. Before the second guard could react, Tyler swung the rifle as hard as he could, clubbing the armed guard in the ribs.

The force of the blow sent the sentry flipping head over heels. He landed with a _thud_ and lay there motionless as he was knocked out cold. The other guard quickly dove for his fallen comrade's rifle, snagged it off the floor, and leveled it to where Tyler was.

"What the...?" the guard muttered as he noticed Tyler was not in his sights anymore. "Alpha One? I've lost the target. I repeat I lost the– Oh no–"

Before the guard could finish his alert, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Before he could turn around and level his gun, a small fist smashed into the back of his head with unbridled force. The guard flew forward onto his face and skidded to a halt, now unconscious.

_It won't be long before they come to see what happened_, Tyler thought to himself. He decided to grab one of the guard's helmet's and a radio so he would know where the others were deployed. If there was one thing helpful about his training, avoidance was the best ally to the main target, with his target being the outside world.

"_Echo three? Echo three, what's your status? Over,"_ A voice buzzed in through one of the downed guards.

That was Tyler's cue to run. Fast.

The rhythmic _clack clack_ of combat boots against scrubbed metal floors became more audible and Tyler vacated his location. He rounded a corner and crouched down low while pressing himslef against the wall as tightly as he could just as a contingent of officers rounded the corner he started out from. Silently, he slunk away.

"There should be a vent, or mainenance hatch around here. Where is it?" he whispered to himself.

Tyler kept himself firmly pressed against the metal walls. Just then, he heard the footsteps and voices of the officers coming in his direction. Tyler thought quickly as he sped up his sneaking away.

_Up ahead there's a corridor with exposed lattice work on the ceiling, _he thought_. With the normal lighting off, it would be the perfect place to hide. Now how to get there?_

Sneaking was getting him nowhere. His only hope was to make an all out dash for the corridor.

"Hold it!" someone called about fifty yards behind him.

Tyler didn't bother to look. He sprang up and sprinted, getting to full speed within two strides. The officer leveled his gun and pulled the trigger. Fiery bullets raced past Tyler as he jumped, ducked and dodged with hot metal slugs. He tightened the helmet on his head, just then a bullet smacked him on his helmet and ricocheted away, sending the seven year old boy flipping end on end. He didn't give the ringing pain in his head another thought as he kept running. Tyler then turned around a corner, and into the corridor he needed to be in. He saw a few dozen cargo bins and he took cover behind them.

All he wanted to do was relieve himself of the splitting headache that throbbed between his ears. He knew that his body would heal itself soon, but nonetheless, the pain was taking its toll, after all, he was still just a kid.

"You in here lil' boy?" Tyler head someone whisper.

He peeked his head out just enough so he could see without being seen himself. Tyler saw the officers sneak in as if they were a pack of velociraptors searching for their prey. Without a sound, he ducked away and thought of a plan. He needed a distraction in the worst way because in order to get into the lattice work high above his head, he'd be an open target. And these men _would_ shoot him if he was exposed.

_The radio_, he thought. With that, Tyler took the radio in his left and, stood up, reared back, and threw the radio into the wall as hard as he could. The device shattered into hundreds of plastic and metal shards as well as brilliant orange-white sparks. Tyler then hopped up on the cargo bins, jumped straight up as high as he could–about ten feet–and grasped onto a girder. He swung his legs back and forth and his body around like a circus acrobat, landing on the narrow beam of steel.

Down below, the startled guards went over to investigate the shattered piece of communications equipment. It was clear that they weren't alone, but where was that boy? And how did he evade them so easily? The guards panned their vision to where Tyler was mere seconds ago.

Nothing.

Above them, Tyler hid between a cross brace and melted into the shadows, even with his all-white attire. He stalked the guards down below that were hunting him. Tyler began to question himself on how he indeed managed to survive. Sure, he had the training to boot, but a whole contingency of guards wearing kevlar bullet-proof vests and helmets along with an assortment of automatic weapons not being able to capture–and eliminate–a child was nearly inexcusable. Tyler cracked a small grin, knowing that their superiors, and his own creator, would throw a nuclear fit if he escaped.

* * *

Tyler remained in his hiding place, high above the floor in the exposed girders, for a couple minutes. The guards that had made their way into the same corridor he was in searched the area below. Tyler prayed that they wouldn't look up. Luckily, they didn't as they jogged out of the entrance. The _clack clack_ of boots marching away from him was one of the best sounds he heard in a while. 

With his enhanced vision, Tyler took note of a vent just large enough for him to squeeze through. This would be a cake walk. Tyler estimated distances between the lattices, about seven or eight feet apart. He silently gained his footing on the edge, bent his knees, then leapfrogged to the next lattice and landed with a muffled metallic _clink._

"No sweat," he whispered to himself. "One down, five to go."

Tyler continued to hop from one set of brace girders to the next until he reached the fourth. Just as he landed, his left foot slipped causing him to lose his balance and fall. Quickly, he grabbed onto the lattice and held on. If he did fall, the landing wouldn't him physically. But it would kill a chunk of his morale at the fact that he'd have to start completely over. Not to mention that while climbing back up to the steel girders would leave him wide open in the event that a guard did walk by.

With that, Tyler hauled himself up and regained his footing. Quickly, and without a sound, he leapt onto the final lattice, but instead of landing with his feet, he grabbed onto the outcropping with his hands and let his forward inertia propel himself forward, right into the vent grates.

"Boo Yah," He said just loud enough for him to hear and he clutched the grate.

The space between the vent grate was large, but not big enough for an adult. Tyler slid through, though it was somewhat tight. He landed with a crouch and made his way out.

* * *

After what felt like an hour, Tyler felt a slight breeze on his face. It was warm. _Almost there,_ he thought to himself. Tyler made sure not to get complacent, he kept his guard up, knowing that there would be bad people waiting for him outside. 

Soon, Tyler was at a steel grate. Sunlight flooded the small passageway that Tyler was making his way through.

"I-I made it," he whispered, looking out at the wide open desert through the openings in the grate.

Tyler also saw guards, dozens of them, marching back and forth, intent on making his escape impossible. Silently, Tyler pushed open the grate just enough for him to slip through. He took a quick breath, and fell down to the ground, about thirty feet below. As soon as he landed, he crouched and hid behind a parked jeep. Just then, a pair of guards marched past, mere feet away from Tyler. He closed his eyes and held his breath.

"You hear? That kid knocked out B Company and evaded everyone else," Tyler heard one of the guards say.

"How could some godforsaken _kid_ get away from a bunch of armed grunts?" The second guard asked.

"Hell if I know, but keep your eyes sharp. They say that lil' bastard could be right behind you and you wouldn't know it," the first guard noted.

Tyler scowled at how that guard referred to him as a _bastard._ He didn't even know what a bastard was, but he had heard the term dozens of times and he did know that it was derogatory. Quickly, he put those emotions aside and watched as the guards continued along their path, away from him and the jeep. As soon as the guards were a good distance away, Tyler took a quick look around, making sure that no one else could see him. He then slithered into the jeep and checked the glove box for something he could use.

"Here we go," he purred as he collected a pocket knife, a compass, and a small ready-to-eat meal package.

Now, it was time to make a break for the fence. Without hesitation, he ran for dear life, straight for the fence.

"There he is! After him!" Tyler heard someone call out.

Guards seemed to stream from everywhere, but Tyler didn't dare look back. Soon, the staccato of assault rifle fire shattered the silence of the desert. Geysers of dust and sand coughed upwards where bullets, aiming for Tyler missed. One bullet, however, grazed Tyler's arm and dark red blood welled from the wound. Tyler grimaced at the wound, but he continued onwards. About ten feet from the fence, Tyler leapt high into the air and grasped onto the fence with his free hand. He dropped his meal package and compass back to the ground below. Getting them wasn't an option so he placed the pocket knife into his mouth and scampered up the fence. Bullets raced past him as he climbed for his life.

Once at the top, he grabed a hold of the razor wire that tore into his hands. Tears from the pain trickled down his face, but he wouldn't let the cuts slow him. Without another thought, he hurled himself over the fence and to the hard ground below.

Sand and dust kicked up into his face and stuck due to the sweat and tears. The palms of his hands stung and the gunshot wound throbbed, but he continued to run, deeper into the vast, dry desert.

After a full on sprint of five miles, Tyler slowed down to a stop, then he dropped to his knees. He was free. No more training, no more experiments or tests. He could just be a kid. Tyler remembered his wounds and he quickly checked his hands. Dried blood covered his hands, but the gaping cuts were closed as his nothing happened. Next, he checked his arm. The sleeve of his white shirt was maroon and there was a hole where the bullet grazed him. The wound, however, was closing all on its own.

"Weird," Tyler said, examining his hands

With that, he kept on moving, knowing that if he stayed in one place, he'd be caught then killed. While he walked, he thought, not about any one thing, but about life and why he was here. Well, technically, he knew he served a purpose as an assassin, but there had to me more than just being a killer. He pondered for a few hours as he continued to walk.

Soon, the powder blue sky began to turn colors. The sun slowly began to dip down behind the mountains and now Tyler had a bearing of which way he was heading. The sun was setting off to his left so he figured that he was walking due north. He then heard something: the low rumble of an engine gradually getting louder.

_A roadway, _he thought as he trudged up a hill and saw a tractor trailer truck thunder past. The wind from the truck whipped up sand. Tyler watched the moving sand and silt swirl around in spiral patterns. Other than the truck, there was no other vehicles for miles that Tyler could see. He decided to walk westward and soon he saw a sign.

"Route sixty-six," he mouthed. "Maybe I can find something to eat along here."


	3. Chapter 3

1**Chapter 3: Connections, Coincidences**, **And Something More...**

The sun had gone down, but there was some remnants of the day earlier. Tyler stood at the intersection, waiting for the light to change so he could cross, along with the half dozen of others wanting to go to their homes. After a moment, the signal changed and Tyler, along with the other people waiting at the corner, crossed the roadway. As he continued to walk, he listened to the sounds of the city: the jet planes high above, the distant _clang _from the bells from the street cars, the periodic _honk_ of vehicles during rush hour. It was music to his ears.

"Hmm, why's there a U Haul truck in front of the house?" Tyler asked to no one in particular as he rounded the corner to his street.

He squinted and focused his sight in on the truck and its license plates.

"Washington," he mouthed silently, then took notice of a car that looked frustratingly familiar parked just forward of the van.

_Being 'special' certainly has its perks in a pinch, _Tyler thought as he memorized the owners of the car–a Toyota Hybrid–a car Tyler wasn't to partial to.

"Tyler? Tyler!" A girl yelled out, running towards him.

Instantly, Tyler recognized the girl who had piercing gray-blue eyes and sandy blonde hair as his best friend, Jennifer Wallace. She leapt into the air and latched onto Tyler, wrapping her arms around his neck. Caught off guard, the drastic shift in weight–even though Jennifer was just barely over a hundred pounds–caused Tyler to lose his balance and the pair came crashing down to the sidewalk with Tyler taking the brut of the fall.

"Jay? Nice to see you too. What are you doing here?" Tyler asked.

"We're moving here!" Jennifer exclaimed excitedly.

Happy that his best friend was in town, Tyler smiled knowing that the transition from Seattle to San Francisco would go much smoothly, especially now that he had a close friend near by.

"And guess what?" Jennifer added. "You remember my friend I told you about from Veggie Camp?"

"Uh... no," Tyler said.

"What? I talk about her all the time. Her name's Chelsea."

"Oh!" Tyler exclaimed as if it finally hit him.

"Now you remember?" she asked him, the two still on the pavement.

"Can't say that I do," Tyler replied as he stood up, Jennifer still latched on him like a young monkey grasping on its mother.

It then hit him that he _had _met _a_ Chelsea earlier, and he was infatuated with her. But there could be hundreds of Chelsea's in San Francisco. There was no way that Jennifer was talking about the lively young redhead that he could only manage a weak greeting when he met both her, and Raven.

"C'mon, Chelsea doesn't live too far from here!" Jennifer demanded.

"How do–" Tyler began, but was soon dragged off.

Jennifer sprinted up the sidewalk.

"Whoa! Jay, trash can! Trash can!" Tyler cried as he vaulted over a volley of trash receptacles, laughing triumphantly as he leapt over them.

"Hurry up, Tyler!" Jennifer ordered.

He didn't have much choice other than to keep up with her.

"Bikes! Jay... oh man!" Tyler pleaded as he attempted to jump over the parked bicycles but ended up crashing to the ground, which finally caused Jennifer to stop.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying not to laugh but to no avail.

Tyler, who lay in a crumpled heap, quietly responded, "Yeah.. I'm fine. My pride's a lil' broken and I think I have a nice lil' boo boo on my arm.

"Stop laughing!"

Tyler got up, gathered his things and attempted to stand the bikes back in place. Just then, he saw _her._

"Chelly!" Jennifer squealed.

"Oh my God. Jennifer! What are you doing here?" the most beautiful redhead Tyler ever saw asked excitedly.

"Remember? I told you I was moving down here." Jennifer exclaimed, hardley able to control her excitement.

The pair then embraced in a tight hug, both giggling and talking incoherently. Next, on the porch of Chelsea's house, they proceeded to do a strange cheer about fruits and vegetables and Camp Waccamosh. Tyler could only watch and wait as they chanted '_Wacca! Wacca! Wacca!_' to the point where it was giving him a brain cramp. Tyler then took notice of another figure in the house, who also seemed to be sharing the same agony of enduring the cheer. The figure soon approached the door, and as if on cue, her demeanor took a 180 and she too squealed one of those high pitched squeals as she embraced Jennifer.

"Tyler? I didn't know you knew Jen," Chelsea said as she walked down the steps and towards him.

Tyler's heart began to thump against his ribs. His eyes darted back and forth. "Uh, y-yeah. She's my best friend." Tyler studdered.

Chelsea then smiled, which almost made him melt. "Well, I guess that makes up friends too?" she asked as a stray breeze tousled some of her hair.

_Yes! Yes! Oh hell yes!_ Tyler thought, then said. "Of course it does."

For some reason, those words rang hollow as Tyler said them. He wasn't sure what was going on–maybe something within him was malfunctioning, but he wanted to be _more _than 'just friends' with Chelsea. He knew that wouldn't happen, however. She was with Ben.

"Well, since we're friends, maybe we should introduce ourselves more properly," Chelsea offered, then stuck out her hand. "I'm Chelsea. Chelsea Daniels."

Briefly, Tyler looked at her small, outstretched hand, then back at her eyes. Those beautiful brown–he quickly embraced her hand with his before he lost his train of thought. "I'm Tyler McGinnis. Pleasure," he said as confidently as he could muster–which wasn't much.

After what felt like an eternity of awkward silence, Raven hopped down the steps to reintroduce herself to Tyler. Raven was a few skin tones darker than Chelsea, but lighter than Tyler. She moved a stray few strands of brown highlighted hair from her face. As soon as he shook her hand, he started to feel weird again–and this time, it wasn't just his hormones. There was something about Raven that was, in a word, different.

* * *

As soon as Raven embraced hands with Tyler, a strange vision occurred. Not like her normal visions she usually had. They had become routine. This vision was more like she was _inside_ of Tyler's mind. All she could see was brief glimpses of his past, as if she was thumbing through a photo album. The rest was clouded, as if trying to block her from access.

Quickly, she released her grip. The two had a shocked look on their faces.

"Uh," Raven quickly shifted her eyes back and forth, then focused them back on Tyler, "what just happened there?"

"Got me," Tyler replied. "But you psychic, aren't you?"

Raven's hazel eyes shot wide open. There was only a select few who knew her secret and she had evaded being caught countless times. So how did one boy figure out after only a handshake?

"Wh-what 'chu talkin' bout," Raven nervously snickered. "I-I'm no–"

"I won't tell anyone. I promise." Tyler said reassuringly. "You probably already know my secret, too."

Before she could answer, Jennifer came up to them, and as if the two were mentally linked, they both switched gears from their secrets to something else.

"We'd better go, Tyler. It's getting late," Jennifer suggested.

The four said their "see you later's" as Jennifer and Tyler walked on home. Chelsea walked down the stoop and stood beside Raven.

"Y'know, girl, I've only met Jennifer a couple times–but she is strange." Raven mused.

Chelsea softly elbowed Raven in the ribs.

"And that Tyler," she added, "he's–" she searched for the right words.

"Cute? Nice? Tall? Dark?" Chelsea suggested.

"Well yeah," Raven smugly replied, taking a quick swipe of her nose with her finger, sizing him up as he walked down the hill, then added, "but he's... different. Like _me _different."

Chelsea furrowed her brow in thought. "You mean he's loud, likes to mettle, and has more pairs of shoes than Donatella Versace?"

Raven's eyes narrowed and she said with an calm aggressiveness, "No Chelsea. I mean he has a secret too. When I shook his hand, I could read his mind. It-it was like I was thumbing through his memories."

"Like when you get a psychic cold?" Chelsea wondered.

"Sort of. But I feel fine." Raven said with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"I'll be the judge of that!" Chelsea announced and promptly placed her hand on Raven's forehead, feeling her temperature, and causing Raven to get somewhat irritated.

"Chelse..."

Yes, Rae?"

"Get your hand off my head before you ruin my foundation!" Raven grumbled.

Chelsea complied and mouthed a silent "sorry". Then noted, "I didn't know you were wearing make up."

"Yeah, girl. I just bought it."

"Really? It looks so natural."

"Yeah it do, don't it."

* * *

When Tyler got back home and parted ways with Jennifer, he thought about what had happened earlier with Raven. Somehow, she had probed into his mind and possibly knew everything about him as well as his memories about his past. He decided that if he saw Raven the next day, he'd talk to her and hopefully see what she had found out.

Tyler opened the side door that led into the garage–his bedroom–and he tossed his duffel bag to the side. Most of his belongings were still boxed up and neatly stacked in one corner. Only the things that he used most–his bed, television, and couch were somewhat in place. Just then, he remembered what he intended to do when he got home.

"Mom?" He called as he walked up the steps to the main level in the house and found her in the dining room, thumbing through a take out menu to a restaurant called The Chill Grill.

Tyler's mom–named Eva–was a vast contrast from Tyler, who stood at six four and had a dark caramel complexion, though he didn't know his ethnicity–but assumed he was part African American and part Navajo, Eva stood just over five feet and had a light tan to her otherwise pale (at least compared to Tyler) tone.

She held up a finger before he could speak, indicating that she was on the phone ordering some dinner. Sitting on the floor beside her was the family dog, Kia, a Siberian Husky. Kia wagged her tail, ran over to Tyler, then got up on her hind legs, placing her front paws into his hands. Tyler gave her a scratch behind the ears and set her paws drop back to the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Little Boy, Big Land, Someone To Love Him**

Tyler had endured a frigid night in the desert, using a fair sized rock as a pillow to take cat naps. He started to question himself. _Maybe I should have stayed,_ he thought. _No, this is the right thing._

Memories of his corporal punishment he received when he made minor miscues during his training flashed through his mind. Though he could heal quickly, there was still evidence of deep lash marks where he was beaten with an extremely sharp whip made of fiber-optic wiring.

* * *

"Run faster, Zero Four-Four!" a trainer barked from a microphone, the acoustics echoing through the cavernous area. 

Tyler was already running as fast as he could, but he knew if he didn't speed up, it would be ten lashes and no water afterwards. With as much will as he could muster, Tyler silently pleaded for his legs to muster any reserve energy to make him run faster.

"Damn it, Zero Four-Four. I said speed it the hell up!" the trainer roared as he pulled out his personal weapon, a standard Beretta pistol, and fired it, nearly missing Tyler's head by scant inches.

Tyler shut his eyes and pushed himself with everything he had. And to his relief, he noticed he began to speed up–barely, but enough that the trainer would notice. His relief soon disappeared as his insides felt as if they were on fire. His stomach rumbled, twisted, and knotted itself, but Tyler didn't dare stop his pace. The pain, however, was too much and he felt a rush of something erupt from his stomach and burned his esophagus.

* * *

Tyler winced at that memory. He wished that someone would come, open his head, and take all those memories from his brain. Without another word, he kept on moving. 

Soon, the sun was high in the sky. Waves of heat shimmered off the horizon, baking everything in sight. Tyler looked up and down the long, straight stretch of Route 66 and saw nothing but pavement and desert for miles. Sweat poured from his forehead, drenching his shirt and causing it to cling to his torso.

"Gotta.. Keep... Going," he chanted to himself. "Gotta... Keep..."

The heat began to take its toll and Tyler collapsed into the dust face first. High above him, he could hear the sound of a jet plane. He forced himself to lay on his back so he could see the tiny dot, thousands of feet up, leave a contrail across the clear blue sky.

"Wow," he whispered silently, not able to muster the energy to speak.

His eyelids started to feel heavy and his throat was dry. Strangely though, he felt at peace and he shut his eyes.

* * *

Twenty seven year-old Eva McGinnis bobbed her head to the beat of a song she listened to from her tape player as she drove down the empty highway. She was coming home from a family reunion in Chicago, and instead of flying back, she opted to take a road trip back home to Los Angeles by taking the famous Route 66. 

Something off to the side of the highway caught her eye.

"Hmm," she thought as she, in her 1992 Jeep Grand Cherokee, rapidly came closer to the object, that looked like a pile of battered, dirty, and torn clothing.

"Holy God," she then exhaled as she soon realized there was someone still wearing the battered white clothing.

Quickly, she skidded the sports utility vehicle to a halt on the shoulder of the roadway, then dashed across the road to find a little boy with dirt caked onto his hands and face. Blood on his clothing dried and turned a mottled brownish-purple color. Eva's heart began to race. She had found a dead child in the middle of nowhere. At least she thought he was dead until his eyes began to flutter.

* * *

Tyler noticed it became somewhat cooler than it was. Slowly, he opened his eyes, only to find someone standing over him, blocking out the sun. A woman with dark sunglasses. Tyler then went on the defensive, sprang to his feet, and went into a martial arts ready position. 

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I'm not going to hurt you," the woman exclaimed, clearly startled as she put her hands up in surrender.

Tyler remained in his crouched position, ready to strike if he needed to. He had come this far and there was no way he was going to go back or get killed without a fight. And if he did die, he would make sure to take some of them down with him.

"I swear I won't hurt you, little boy." The woman pleaded. "I've got some water in my truck. You thirsty?"

Tyler was dehydrated, but was this a trick? Nobody had ever offered him anything when he was in need.

"I'll go get the water. Hang on, kid," the woman noted and jogged to her SUV parked on the side of Route 66.

Tyler's eyes tracked her, and he listened for anything that could cause a threat. Though she was a hundred feet away, he could hear her open the truck's door and the water in it's bottle sloshing about as if he was right next to the nice lady. Soon, she came running back with a large bottle of Crystal Springs water. Tyler relaxed his stance, relieved that someone was actually helping him. Him.

"There you go," the kind woman said with a warm smile.

"Th-thank you," Tyler said with a dry throat, taking the water and gulping it down and letting the excess dribble down the sides of his mouth and onto his face and shirt.

The woman smiled. "So what's your name?"

Tyler panted after chugging down half of the contents within the bottle. "I am Infiltration Unit Tyler Zero Four Four."

Eva widened her eyes. "That's, uh, quite a name. Well I'm Eva"–she stuck her hand out–"pleased to meet you."

Tyler looked at her hand, then at her, then back at her hand, not sure how to react. Eva slowly retracted her hand, not really sure of what to do.

"So... how old are you, Tyler?" She asked.

Caught off guard by the usage of his name instead of his designation number, he answered. "I am seven years, four months, twenty four days, two hours, and seventeen minutes of age... well, now eighteen minutes."

Instantly, Eva noticed that there was something more than extraordinary with the kid. No seven year old she ever met knew their _exact_ age up to the minute, let alone the fact that he had such a strange name. _He must have been hit in the head, or the heat's gettin' to this poor kid,_ she thought.

"Why are you out here all alone? Where's your parents?" Eva asked.

Tyler looked down at the ground. "I ran. And I have no parents."

"I'm sorry you have no parents. Where did you run from?"

Tyler looked around briefly, as if searching for a road sign. He then pointed to a direction to the south and east.

"Oh," Eva responded. "Well maybe we should take you back there. Someone might be looking for you."

Tyler's eyes instantly locked with hers, fear riddled within them. "Please don't take me back there." He begged. "They'll kill me. Please?"

Something in his eyes showed Eva that he wasn't kidding or speaking figuratively. Not to mention the dried blood on his clothing could have been an indication of what he went through. Eva pondered for a moment, trying to figure out what to do.

"Well, c'mon. Let's grab some food. There's bound to be a diner somewhere along this highway and I'm pretty sure you've gotta be starving." Eva noted. "After we grab some chow, we can figure out what to do next."

Tyler nodded. "Okay,"–an idea soon hit him and his face lit up–"how about you be my parent? You could take me in and–"

Eva knelt down in front of him so her eyes were level with his. "I'm sorry but it's not that simple, Tyler. There's paperwork and then they have to make sure I'm fit to be a parent and I don't really know if I am yet–"

She wanted to say more, list all the reasons why she shouldn't be a parent, but the look in his eyes was too much to bear and from what she saw on those news shows like 20-20 and Dateline, kids who get turned over to the authorities have a rough time. And from his appearance, Tyler had been through pure hell. The last thing he needed was to be put in the system and shuttled off from family to family.

"Y'know what kid?" Eva finally said. "We'll work something out. Let's go"

Tyler's face lit up and for the first time ever, he smiled. Then he heard something off in the distance. He cupped his hand around his ear and focused.

"What are–" Eva began.

"Shh," Tyler hissed. His eyes then shot wide open. "Get to your truck. Run!" Tyler pushed her towards the street.

"What the hell!" she exclaimed.

"Go! They're after me, not you!" Tyler ordered.

Confused, Eva ran to her truck, while Tyler ran off, but first, clamped his hands around a Route 66 sign, and ripped the pole out of the ground as if it was nothing more than a weed in softened dirt. Tyler then sprinted into the barren desert, leaving a dust trail in his wake. Soon, Eva too heard something. The low rumble of jeeps and off in the distance, she saw a cloud of dust.

"Who was this kid?" she asked herself as she started up her own truck.

* * *

Tyler leapt over a boulder, never losing stride. He knew they were after him, but now he had to protect someone. There was no telling what they would do if they discovered Eva was associating with him 

Tyler's eyesight adjusted and focused as if they were lenses on a camera. Mentally, the distance to the targets–a pair of Hummer Assault Vehicles–relayed into his brain. They were close. Too close. Suddenly, the buzz of automatic weapons fire filled the air and white-hot lead tracers tore past his body. He ducked, dodged, and dove away, a few bullets narrowly missing his head.

One Hummer tore up a dune and flew into the air. Things simultaneously slowed down and sped up by Tyler's perception. With the skill of a marksman, Tyler twirled the pole, then thrust it straight up into the Hummer's fuel tank as it flew overhead. Pungent liquid flowed from the hole in the tank and left a nice trail. Quickly, Tyler found two rocks and rapidly smacked them together in an effort to make as many sparks as possible.

The Hummer landed and skidded to a halt. Three armed guardsmen piled out, weapons at the ready. Tyler slapped the rocks together one more time on the gas trail, igniting it like the fuse on a stick of dynamite. The flame followed the path straight to the Hummer. Tyler dove behind a dune and covered his head with his hands just as the guards fired their guns at him. Suddenly, a brilliant flash, a crack of thunder, and a blossoming fireball erupted. Before the guards could react, they were swallowed in a hellish inferno of fire and shrapnel.

Tyler peeked his head out and saw nothing but the carcass of the assault truck.

"One down, one to go," he said to himself.

He noticed the other Hummer didn't bother with him. It was going in Eva's direction.

* * *

Eva jumped, startled from a thunderous explosion that just happened. She saw billowing smoke off in the distance. She could bring herself to say anything, knowing that Tyler had to have been involved with that. Just then, A large jeep came to a screeching halt and armed people filed out and surrounded her. 

"Hold it!" One of the guards ordered, each of then with their guns at the ready.

Eva froze in place, terrified. She never had seen a gun pointed at someone in real life. The fact that they were pointed at her was almost too much to bear.

"Where's the boy?" another guard barked.

Eva took short quick gasps for air, not knowing what to say.

"Where is he?"

"Right here," Tyler said with as eerie calmness as he came up running, then leapt high into the sky, using the sun to block the guards' vision on him.

The guards pointed their rifles up and began to fire erratically. Eva darted behind her jeep and took cover as the rhythmic chatter of gunfire tore open the silence of the open desert. _My God, he's dead,_ she thought to herself, until she saw one of the guards fall to his feet due to a crushing blow to the head.

Tyler landed, darted, and did a cartwheel to avoid the gunfire. He twirled his pole and swiped it under the last two guards. Before one of the guards had a chance to even hit the ground, Tyler brought up the pole and swung it with all his might like a baseball bat, nailing the guard square in the side of his head, killing the man instantly.

While his back was turned, the second guard regained his footing, leveled his rifle, then fired. Like he had precognition, Tyler darted out of the way, however, a bullet made connection with his arm and tore through his young flesh. Blood oozed from the wound, but Tyler didn't wince. He had a mission: protect Eva.

He let out a loud battle cry and rushed towards the rifle wielding man. Tyler reared his pole up, leapt into the air, and came back down, slamming the steel pole into the man's combat helmet with the force of nearly ten men. The helmet shattered, as did the guards skull. Blood shot from the guards facial orifices and bones cracked as if they were nothing more than potato chips. The third and final guard was still unconscious and wouldn't pose a threat.

Eva emerged from her hiding spot and stared at Tyler with awe and fear in her eyes. She then looked at the carnage of the downed guards and their blood flowed from their heads.

"We've got to get outta here," Tyler said as if nothing was fazing him. "There'll be others looking for me. We need to move fast."

"Y-yeah. Move," Eva managed to say while trembling.

"Are you okay?" Tyler asked.

"Okay? Oh sure. I just witnessed a _child_ murder three people, blow up a Hum Vee, and save my life! So sure! I'm damn peachy keen!" Eva yelled.

Tyler tilted his head quizzically and calmly replied. "I didn't murder anyone. It was self-defense. And I didn't kill them, the pole did, plus one's still alive, as are the ones out by the destroyed jeep."

"Fine," she growled. "Lets get out of here before more of those bastards come up and they _do_ kill us."

With that, the two jumped into Eva's SUV, and sped off, heading west bound. Eva took a glance over succumbs the boy, and noticed his arm was bleeding profusely.

"My God, you've been shot," she gasped.

"Oh?" He raised his arm and noticed a quarter inch hole in his tricep. "Hmm."

"Oh and Hmm? That's all you can say? We've gotta get you to a hospital!"

"That won't be necessary. My body will heal itself soon. And it's best that we stay clear of certain areas like hospitals or the local authorities." Tyler informed.

This was too weird. How does a seven year old kid know about staying away from the authorities and healing himself?

"Well then, I guess you're sticking with me then." she said, cracking a small grin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Magna**

The next few days were as routine as routine could get; school, baseball practice, and Tyler's infatuation with Chelsea growing more and more. He still wouldn't admit it, not even to Jennifer or his mom because he knew that if he spilled it to someone, it would blow up in his face. The only person who Tyler thought would have even a remote possibility of knowing was Raven, due to the fact that she was psychic, but apparently she hadn't said anything. Yet.

Friday's baseball practice was easy as it was just a quick team meeting and time to grab their uniforms. Ben received number 20, Eddie got number 16, and Tyler was to don the number 44.

_No way,_ Tyler thought as he examined the yellow numbers on the back of the jersey. He stared off into space as another bad memory flooded its way into his mind.

* * *

Tethered by his arms to a lattice, Tyler dangled, waiting for whatever was going to come. The only lights in the place he was in were focused on him. Everywhere else was dark and shrouded in shadows. The sound of foot steps on the metallic floor caught Tyler's attention and he raised his head to see who it was.

"Hello Zero Four Four," The on comer said in a voice that had an deep Welsh accent. The person tapped some sort of baton or cane leisurely on their shoe. "It's cold in here isn't it?"

Shivering, Tyler shook his head no.

"Hmph. I see you still have some defiance within you, Zero Four Four," the person said, then leaned in closely so Tyler could get a good look.

The person was an older man with neatly cut silvery hair, gold rimmed glasses, and dark eyes behind the lenses.

"Wh-what do y-you want with-th me?" Tyler asked.

The man stepped back and laughed. "It's simple. I am here to make you a highly skilled assassin that can take a beating before he succumbs. I am here to make you extraordinary in every way. You be able to single handedly fight a battalion of soldiers and infiltrate even the most secure of locations. And that will happen all before you turn eighteen. Once you become an adult, your power will be limitless, Tyler. You are truly unique in every way."

Tyler had never heard someone call him by his actual name. Anyone who addressed him called him by his designation number.

"B-but I d-don't want to f-fight," Tyler quietly said.

The man scoffed, then grabbed his cane and swung it hard. The metal stick impacted into Tyler ribs and his dangling body swayed violently. Tyler yelled in pain as throbbing seemed to vibrate throughout his body, with the epicenter being in his ribs. The force of the blow caused him to cough up blood that trickled from the corners of his mouth. Tyler hung his head, opened his mouth, and let the flow of blood stream down to the floor. His breathing became labored, but he knew that nothing was broken. His skeletal structure was coated with a special polymer that make them virtually unbreakable.

"You don't want to fight, eh? You don't have a choice, Zero Four Four. I built you. You're nothing more than my own toy. If you won't do what you're ordered to, then I will erase you and start over. I, Doctor Jean-Luc Dupont, can kill you, boy."

Just then, something boiled within Tyler. Tyler tilted his eyes up, focusing them on the man. A surge of rage began to brew and with all of his strength, Tyler tugged on the tethers, stretching them to nearly the breaking point. "Maybe you can get rid of me, but all I know is that if I die, you're coming with me so you can't do this ever again!"

Dr. Dupont pressed a button on his cane and a surge of electricity charged the tethers and sent five thousand volts into Tyler body. Blue sparks encompassed Tyler body, but whatever was driving him was alowing him to withstand the voltage. Dupont pressed the button again, upping the voltage.

"I. Will. Stop. You." Tyler said through gritted teeth. "I. Will. Survive. I Will..."

Before he could finish, Tyler passed out and dangled lifeless.

Dr. Dupont hit another button on his cane. "You'll never stop me, Zero Four Four. But apparently I have trained you better than I thought."

* * *

"Tyler? Tyler!" Eddie yelled. "You alright, man?"

Tyler blinked quickly and noticed both Ben and Eddie staring at him with strange looks.

"Uh, yeah. I'm good." Tyler said, coming back to reality.

"You sure? You look like you saw a ghost or something," Ben added in, noticing that the far off look was all to familiar since Ben was, like Raven, a psychic.

"Yeah. Must've been daydreaming I guess." Tyler responded.

"Well, okay. I'm gonna go find Chelse. See you guys in a bit," Ben noted and walked off in search of his girlfriend.

"Well, hey, we're all gonna go to the Chill Grill pretty soon. You down?" Eddie asked Tyler. "Rae's dad owns it."

Tyler thought for a moment. Mom was gone on a business trip to Vancouver, B.C. and it would be nice to hang with some people. "Sounds cool, man."

"Alright then my brotha'. Lets bounce."

* * *

Raven shook her head as she emerged from another vision. "Whoa," she whispered as a few kids who were still at school on that cloudy Friday afternoon started to head out.

"Rae, did you have another vision?" Chelsea asked with some concern in her voice.

Raven furrowed her brow. She _did_ have a vision, but it was something from the past, and it had nothing to do with her.

"Yeah, Chelse. But it wasn't like one of my normal visions where–"

"We get into some mischief?" Chelsea asked.

Raven cocked her eyebrow. "We don't get into mischief. And who in the heck uses that word anyway? We don't do anything that any normal teenager wouldn't do."

"Uh, Rae? I don't really know any others who constantly pose as someone else or do strange things just to change the future even though your visions usually happen exactly as you see them anyway."

"Uh, anyway, Chelse. My vision was of something in the past." Raven said. "But nothing in our past. It was of Tyler."

Chelsea's face seemed to light up. "What was it about?"

Raven shrugged. "I dunno. It was him as a little kid and it looked like he was in trouble. But that was all I saw. And girl, when I mentioned Tyler, your face lit up like a light bulb."

"It did not. I'm just bright." Chelsea explained, though Raven didn't buy any of it.

"Girl, you ain't bright.. I-I mean, you're bright, but not the way you, you know what I mean." Raven corrected. "Besides, you're with Ben."

"I know, and he's great and all." Chelsea meekly said. "But things seem like they're changing. Back when I kissed him when Ranye Bow came to our school, he was so sweet and I gave him some art and poems, just things to show I loved him and he'd do the same. Now, though, we don't really do that anymore."

* * *

After spending some time with his new friends at the restaurant that Raven's father owned, Tyler, along with Jennifer made their way home. High above the Friday evening San Francisco sky, ominous clouds rolled and boiled as a storm was beginning to brew. Off in the distance, a crack of thunder roared, dwarfing all of the sounds of the evening rush of autos and people. Large raindrops began to fall from the sky and within moments, everything was drenched.

Soon, Tyler and Jennifer made it to his house. Tyler opened the door to his room–the garage door–and the two walked in, shutting the door behind them.

"Hey Tyler?" Jennifer began as she tossed her backpack and jacket to the floor. "You like Chelsea, don't you?"

_Where did that come from?_ He wondered, but Jennifer continued. "I know you do and don't try to deny it. I saw how your eyes lit up when she talked back at the restaurant and when I first introduced you to her.

"I've known you for a while and it's as clear as day that you like her. A lot."

Tyler slumped his shoulders. He thought he did a pretty good job at hiding certain feelings, but it obviously wasn't good enough. "Well, it's not like I could... you know... ever be with her. She's with Ben."

"True. But they're not married are they?"

Tyler cocked his eyebrow, wondering where she was going with this.

"Not too long ago, Chelly told me that things between her and Ben were"–Jennifer searched for the right word–"iffy. And you and Chelly would make a cute couple.

"Well, I'm gonna head on home. Talk to you later."

Tyler opened the door and walked her outside to the middle of the street. Just as quickly as the rain had started, it had stopped leaving the environment with that fresh smell that reminded the two of back home in Seattle. Suddenly, Tyler felt something, like static charging along his skin.

"Jay? Hang on. Something doesn't feel... right." Tyler quietly said.

Besides his mom, Jennifer was the only other person he had told about his _true_ background. And she knew that when he said something was odd, it more often then naught was. Then, she too began to feel strange, as if a charge was materializing causing the fine hairs on her body to stand on end.

High above them, clouds swirled and roiled. Tyler looked up and noticed that the swirling was happening directly above Jennifer and him. Just then, bolts of lightning energized and shot from the epicenter of the swirling clouds. Before Tyler could react, even blink an eye, he and his best friend were engulfed within the energy, leaving no trace behind as the lightning bolt winked out of existence.

* * *

"Tyler? What the hell just happened?" Jennifer asked. "And where the hell are we?"

"Got me, Jay," Tyler noted.

The two examined their surroundings, only to find that there was nothing to examine. All they could see was wispy fog at their feet and more fog surrounding them. The floor, if that's what it could be determined, seemed solid since they were standing.

"Well," Tyler said after a quiet moment, "are we dead or something?"

"Quite the contrary," a rumbling voice, as low as thunder, boomed.

"You said you wanted to see what I did before we met, right Jay?"

Jennifer nodded her head nervously.

"Well keep your eyes open, stay behind me, and you'll get a first hand look see." Tyler whispered. He then went into a martial arts ready position and yelled, "Show yourself!"

"Your caution is noted, Tyler McGinnis and Jennifer Wallace, but you are in no danger." The voice rumbled.

Jennifer trembled and she knew Tyler was scared too, yet somehow he wasn't outwardly showing it.

"Who are you?" she asked, trying to feed off some of the courage Tyler was showing.

"Who am I? I am Magnus, keeper of the Sacred Powers of the Universe. You have been selected to receive these powers to protect your world."

Tyler stood straight and stoic, and Jennifer took up position next to him. "Seriously," Jennifer huffed, "this has to be some kind of joke or something. Sacred Powers of the Universe? What kind of crap is this?"

"Your suspicion is valid, young Wallace. However, this is not the _crap_ you speak of." The voice thundered.

"Cloud man's right, Jay. I've been through some mess in my life and for some reason, I believe the guy. Maybe I'm losin' it, but I believe him." Tyler mused, then asked. "Why us?"

There was no answer. Instead, a mahogany colored pedestal rose from the "floor" before the two. On the pedestal sat two odd, but beautiful stones, one with a shiny black luster etched with platinum. The other stone was a brilliant cerulean blue marbleized with lines of red and gold.

"You know what?" Jennifer exclaimed. "This is crazy. This like some freaky Matrix crap. I'd very much like to leave."

Tyler shot her a look. He understood where she was coming from. In fact, something in his mind was telling him that this was all pointless, just a dream. But his heart told him that everything here was very real. And his mom always said that he should follow his heart, not to mention that all those corny Disney movies that he watched when he was younger had the same message.

"Very well young Wallace. You are granted to leave," Magnus finally said.

"Good," she snapped. "Is there some kind of pill or something I gotta do?"

"No." The voice responded and with that, Jennifer disappeared.

"What did you do with her?" Tyler demanded.

"Fear not. She is fine and back in your realm." Magnus said. "Getting back to the matter, because young Wallace opted not to take her Stone of Serenity, you will have to take both stones. Or, you can opt to leave, like your friend chose to."

Tyler took a deep breath and reached his hand out to the two stones. As soon as he extended his hand, the two stones began to glow, responding to Tyler in a way he couldn't understand. Yet, somehow he felt as if a great power was beginning to manifest within. Soon, a surge went though him and he blacked out.

"And now, young McGinnis. You are Magna Man." Magnus said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Changes**

Daylight poured into Tyler's room as he groggily awoke.

"Good morning," a familiar voice said next to him.

Tyler turned over and smiled, finding Chelsea laying next to him, her reddish hair in disaray, but in a way that Tyler found her even more appealing.

"Mornin'," he quietly responded, his gaze stuck in her brown eyes that even if he wanted to look away, he couldn't.

"I don't have any clothes on," he added in, chuckling.

Chelsea moved her face closer to his. Her red lips hovered mere millimeters from his own and a sly grim materialized on her soft face. "Neither do I," she noted, lifting the blanket off her slightly so Tyler could get a look see.

Tyler peeked through the small window she was offering him and his face lit up like a child receiving a brand new toy. His heart began to race and his pelvic area was more than active.

"I'm glad you like," she whispered seductively, her lips still not quite touching Tyler's, but close enough that he could just feel them.

* * *

Tyler's eyes shot open. Noticing he was laying down, he looked to his left, then his right. No sign of Chelsea. He let out a loud groan and looked at his alarm clock. It was only 11 p.m. Tyler rubbed his eyes and turned on his desk lamp. Instantly, he remembered what happened earlier, but was it a dream? He made his way upstairs to the bathroom and flipped on the light. It was then he looked at his reflection in the vanity mirror and screamed bloody murder.

His once short cropped dark brown hair was now long, wildy spiked, and jet black except for a streak that was platinum silver. He moved his face closer to the mirror and examined his eyes. His once brown eyes were now a deep emerald green. He checked the rest of his body, as everything seemed in place. The only thing that was different was his eyes and hair, until he took note of a necklace around his neck. Dangling from it were the two stones of Magna and Serenity.

Tyler held the stones in the palm of his hand and examined them. The Serenity Stone–Jennifer's stone–was round and smooth, like the rocks that Jennifer liked to buy when she would force Tyler to go down to Pike Place Market back in Seattle. Tyler's Magna Stone, however, was angular and jagged. He tucked the necklace back under his shirt and decided to go for a walk hoping that the now fresh rain-cleaned atmosphere would help him understand everything that was going on.

With that, he grabbed his Seattle Mariners jacket, put it on, and walked out the front door, shutting it behind him.

* * *

At the Baxter house, Raven, Eddie, and Chelsea finished watching the movie "Starsky And Hutch" on DVD. Mr. And Mrs. Baxter had retired up to their room a couple hours ago and Raven's brother, Cory, was spending the night at a friend's.

"Damn, I gotta get me one of them Gran Torino's," Eddie announced, remarking about the red auto that the stars of the movie drove around.

"Yeah, well don't you have to have a license to get a car?" Chelsea asked.

"And some money?" Raven added in. "And you wasn't just lookin' at the car. I saw you drooling when Carmen Electra and that other chick was kissin'. Ya little nasty."

"What can I say?" Eddie responded. "That was quality cinematic magic."

"Yeah, ya perv." Raven muttered.

"No-no-no, not perv. They're called–say it with me now–_hormones._ Holla back now!" Eddie retorted.

"Sure, perv boy." Chelsea mused sarcastically. "It's getting late. I'm going to head home."

"Yeah, me too. See ya, Rae." Eddie said as he and Chelsea walked out of the front door.

Once they were at the bottom of the steps, Chelsea and Eddie went their separate ways. As Chelsea walked down the sidewalk, she grabbed her cell phone and decided to leave Ben a sweet goodnight text message. She typed it out and hit the SEND button on her phone.

"Hey little girl. A lil' late for someone like you to be out ain't it?" a gruff voice came from behind Chelsea, startling her.

She turned around to face who it was and saw two men, both wearing black hooded sweatshirts. One of the men had a scruffy looking jaw as whiskers protruded. The other man was completely bald and had a menacing grin that only showed trouble.

"I-I was just heading home," Chelsea said shakily.

She turned back around, only to find three more thugs, also wearing black sweatshirts. "How about an escort home, girlie?" One of the men asked as the five began to encircle her.

Chelsea gripped her backpack and purse tightly. She was surrounded. One of the men began to advance and as if it was a natural reaction, Chelsea reared her leg back and kicked the oncoming thug square in the crotch, causing the man to keel onto the pavement. She saw her opening and bolted away.

"Get that bitch!" the man with the now swollen organs whined. "Cut her if you have to!"

The remaining four chased after Chelsea, while the fifth member staggered onto his feet, clutching his testes that throbbed with more than excruciating pain.

As Chelsea ran, tears streamed from her eyes and down her cheeks. These men weren't far behind and they were going to harm her. Or worse. Suddenly, she tripped over something and flailed to the hard ground. Before she could get up, the thugs were already too close as they surrounded her. The thugs drew their switchblade knives. Chelsea screamed.

And someone responded.

* * *

Tyler walked up, fists clenched tightly as he said. "You know? You'd think your parents would teach you how to be more gentlemanly towards a lady."

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men asked, rage beginning to boil over.

Tyler stepped forward so he was clearly visible. "Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Tyler and I'll be kicking your asses on this lovely San Francisco night." He smiled brightly, then added, "And you should really watch that language. It's not polite."

"To hell with the bitch, boys. Let's kick this bastard's ass." the lead thug who was kicked in the groin ordered.

"Bad choice of words, pilgrim," Tyler said with a low growl to his voice.

The five surrounded Tyler, knives at the ready. Chelsea crawled away and hid behind a parked minivan. She grabbed her cell phone and began to punch in 9-1-1.

"Now, boys. What did I say about that language?" Tyler joked, then became serious. "It's not polite!"

Tyler went into a handstand, spread his legs wide apart, and spun on his hands, twirling his legs like the blades of a propeller His feet kicked away the knives in different directions. One nearly hit Chelsea, but instead impaled itself into a tire, which leaked air with a high pitched _hiss._

"Get 'em!" all five yelled.

Tyler pushed off the sidewalk with his arms and flipped over so he was on his feet. The nearest thug to him attempted a punch, but missed as Tyler dodged it as if the blow were coming in slow motion. Tyler returned the man's blow with one of his own. Tyler's, however, connected squarely in his jaw.

Chelsea flinched as she saw Tyler's balled up fist smash into the man's. She crouched lower behind the van to keep out of sight, but she made sure that she could still see what was going on.

Two of the men flanked Tyler and grabbed his arms. The man who got his groin kicked in came forward with the intent of having a boxing match with Tyler's face while he was being held in place. _Not gonna happen,_ he thought, as he locked his legs onto the approaching man's head and started to pull his arms and legs closer to his body. Although he had three men trying to hold him still and going on the offensive, Tyler easily overpowered them. When he felt his arms and legs were close enough, Tyler exploded them out, sending the four remaining assailants flying in different directions. Chelsea yelped and fell onto her backside as one smashed into her hiding place–the van.

Tyler grabbed the leader, who dangled from the railing of someone's stoop, by the scruff of his sweatshirt, and brought the guy eye to eye with him.

"If I ever see you and your cronies around here or anywhere ever again, I'll throw you clear to Alcatraz. Got it?" Tyler barked.

Terrified, the lead thug wet his pants, but nodded positively. The five now battered guys limped away moaning, groaning, and letting blood drip from their noses and other cuts. Chelsea then emerged and stared at Tyler in awe. Tyler stared back, then remembered his dream from an hour ago.

"Um, are you okay?" Tyler asked Chelsea.

Instead of saying anything, Chelsea ran up and embraced Tyler, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Reluctantly, Tyler put an arm around her, returning her hug in a somewhat lackluster way. Chelsea looked up into his face, swearing that he was like a guardian angel.

"You look... different." she quietly said.

"Oh, you mean the hair. I, um, was going for something... new, I guess." he tried to explain.

"Yeah, and your eyes too. They're green."

Tyler tried to think. He needed a good lie and he needed one quick. "Oh don't you know? Eye color can change, even in later ages. Yeah, that's it. My eye color just happened to change." he explained, hoping she would buy it.

"In a matter of hours?" she asked skeptically.

Tyler chuckled nervously. "Well-well, my body, you know. It can change fast I guess. Good genes."

"What do pants have to do with it?" Chelsea inquired.

"Not _jeans,_ I mean genes. DNA."

"Oh," Chelsea gasped, understanding.

"Well, you'd better get on home. You're too pretty to be"–Tyler stopped talking dead in his tracks, catching himself thinking aloud.

Chelsea picked up on it. "So you think I'm pretty?"

"Uh," Tyler's eyes shifted back and forth quickly. He wanted to say yes and give her a kiss, just like in the movies, but this was real life and he knew it didn't work that way. "Yes... I mean, no. I mean... well, yeah, you're obviously, but you know. I'm just gonna shut my mouth now."

Chelsea couldn't help but laugh at his awkwardness, finding it charming in a way. "It's okay. No harm done. But hey, can I ask a favor?"

"You want me to walk you home. I'd be glad too."

With that, the two began to walk through the night down the steep hill. As the two walked, Tyler with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, Chelsea talked and he mostly listened. Not just to her, but he listened for other things, just in case those thugs were up for round two.

Soon, they were at the corner of Hilton Street and San Pedro–Chelsea's street. Tyler walked with her down to her house and right up to the front door.

"Well'p, this is it. Tyler? Thank you so much." she said.

"It was nothing"–he began.

"No," she cut him off. "You saved me. I couldn't begin to thank you enough."

Tyler cracked a smile, noticing her sparkling eyes showing genuine sincerity. "Chelsea, so long as you're okay, that's all the thanks I need. Now if you'll excuse me, that corny line is too corny for me."

Chelsea let out a humorous huff. "Yeah, that was pretty cheesy. I'll see you around."

She gave him one more hug, opened the front door, and slowly shut it behind her, trying to keep quiet. Tyler grinned and casually made his way down the steps. However, because he wasn't paying attention, he missed a step and stumbled to the sidewalk below.

"And there goes my cool right out the window," he grumbled to himself as he quickly sprang up to his feet, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of being seen. Unfortunately, Chelsea saw the whole thing as he noticed her peeking out of the living room window.

Tyler waved to her, then ran off as fast as he could, thins time paying attention to where he was going.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about making the first six chapters so confusing. On my original document, everything was spaced perfectly, but the format for this changed it. Hopefully, this chapter will be a little easier to follow...**

**Oh, and in case you're wondering, this Tyler in my story isn't the one that was in the Makeover episode**

**Chapter 7: Go Time**

As soon as Tyler was out of sight, Chelsea bolted for her room. Once there, she dove onto her bed, grabbed her phone, and called Raven. All in one breath, she told Raven about the attempted mugging.

"_My God, Chelse. Are you okay?" _Raven asked.

"Rae, I'm fine. Tyler was there." Chelsea responded.

"_You mean he tried to mug you? That–" _Raven started.

"No-no-no. He saved me. Literally. There was five of them and he took them all on single handedly without even breaking a sweat." Chelsea explained.

There was a moment of silence as Raven thought this over. First her visions and now this. There was definitely something about Tyler that was strange.

"Rae? You still there?"

"_Y-yeah, Chelse. I dunno why but I'm getting some strange vibes from him."_ Raven finally said.

* * *

As soon as Tyler was back home, he looked over across the street. _Good, Jay's up,_ he thought as he noticed the light on in the upstairs room at the Wallace's house. Quietly, he jogged across the street, then panned the area, making sure there was no one around. Satisfied that he only saw nothing more than a stray cat and a few car lights drive by a couple blocks away, Tyler jumped straight up, grabbed onto a gutter, then pulled himself onto the roof, landing feet first and without a sound.

He took a second to look at his hand. "Oh great," he muttered. "Gutter goo."

He wiped his hand on a shingle to get most of the gunk off, then he made his way over the Jennifer's bedroom window. Once there, he gently tapped on her window.

"Tyler?" Jennifer gasped apprehensively. "What happened to your hair? What are you doing here? It's midnight."

"Jay? You remember what happened earlier, right?" Tyler inquired.

Jennifer opened her window and looked him squarely in the eye. She nodded affirmatively.

"Can you meet me outside? I think I should show you something." Tyler continued.

"Alright. Head to my backyard. I'll be down in a sec." Jennifer noted.

Tyler nodded, then silently slunk down the inclined roof. Once at the edge of the roof, he vaulted off and landed on the ground below, ending in a low crouch. He stood up, vaulted over a fence, and casually marched into the backyard.

"Took you long enough," Jennifer taunted as she leisurely waited on the wooden backyard deck. "So what did you need to show me?"

"Well, you know those stones?" Tyler asked. He pulled the necklace from under his shirt, took it off, and handed it to Jennifer so she could examine it.

She took the necklace and checked it out. "Hmm," she purred.

"Hmm is right," Tyler exclaimed as he walked to the middle of the yard, then held his hand out as Jennifer tossed the necklace back, which he snagged out of the air, easily visible to him even without much light. "Well after you left, he called me something. _Magna Man_."

Jennifer cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's weird, I know." Tyler said. "But that's not the half of it."

Though he hadn't tried it yet, he knew there was a greater power within him waiting to be released. As if already burned into his mind, he put his feet shoulder width apart, stuck his arms straight out to his sides with his hands positioned upwards, his index and middle fingers pointed up.

"Tyler? What are you doing?" Jennifer wondered, becoming anxious and frightened.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said the words. "Alright–

"–It's go time!"

A brilliant flash of light enveloped Tyler and blinded Jennifer momentarily. Once the lapse of vision passed and the speckles in her eyes disappeared, she inhaled sharply to see the person standing in her yard–if he was still a person.

Instead of his normal clothes, Tyler was now sporting an all black form-fitting suit that covered him from head to toe. The only part of him that was exposed was his hair on the top of his head. On the mask portion, the only opening were his eye holes, except his eyes were like mirrored lenses.

Plastered to the center of his chest was a embossed silver "M" and around his waist was a silver belt. Draping from his shoulders and down to his feet, a black cape outlined with silver, wrapped around him like a cloak.

"T-Tyler?" Jennifer asked shakily. "Is that you?"

"Whoa," Tyler managed to grunt as he inspected his newly acquired gear.

"Is that all you can say? 'Whoa?" I just witnessed the impossible!" Jennifer cried out, exasperated.

Tyler pulled the mask portion of his suit down around his neck. "Oh come on Jay. You gotta admit this is awesome. I mean, check it, the suit, the belt, the nifty emblem, and the cape... Oh yeah!"

"Well as awesome as you think it is, what's the one thing that comes along with being a super hero?" she asked, noticing the words 'super hero' had a funny sound to her.

"Um... a nice suit?" Tyler guessed. "Super powers... hold on a sec. I've got super powers."

"Well yeah, but all super heroes have super villains." Jennifer warned.

Tyler did remember when Magnus said there could be others on the wrong side. He decided that if he happened to meet up with another, he'd deal with it then. Now, it was time to see what Magna Man could do.

"Well Jay, that's just Jim Dandy swell but–" Tyler stopped mid-sentence, then looked around. "I hear something... fire trucks." He then cupped his gauntleted hand around his ear. "There's a fire. I gotta go."

Jennifer could only look at him. If someone had told her what she was witnessing, she would have laughed as if it was a joke. But this was real and she was staring at her friend who just transformed into–something. Before she could say something, even open her mouth, Tyler pulled his mask back over his face, then, as if it was second nature, he gracefully leapt high into the air and flew off.

* * *

Tyler was in ecstacy. He was actually flying. Not just a really high jum, but he was literally flying. From high above, he could see the whole Bay Area, clear out to San Jose, about 50 or so miles to the south. Quickly, he squelched his joy and searched for signs of a fire, and sure enough, he caught a trail of flashing red strobe lights and the wail of sirens and air horns–fire trucks.

"Show time," he said to himself.

Tyler put his arms straight forward, then dove downwards towards the red rescue vehicles. His cape majestically whipped in the wake he created as he soared through the night. About 100 feet above the street, Tyler leveled off, flying parallel with the avenue.

The odor of charred material filled the air. Tyler could feel the heat generated by the flames, then he saw. A 10 story apartment building was ablaze. Flames protruded from the lower and middle floors.

"There are people inside!" someone on the street below shouted.

The fire fighters on scene sprayed their hoses on different areas of the inferno. Arcs of high pressured water impacted into the dancing orange-yellow flames. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the vicinity as a blossoming fireball erupted from the apartment.

Down below, he saw dozens of people lose their balance and collapse to the ground. Some of the collapsed remained on the ground coming to the realization that their homes were no more.

Without anymore hesitation, Tyler flew into the building and crashed through a wall. Inside, it was eerily calm, but gradually getting hot. Smoke clouded his vision, but he could still see well enough.

"Is anyone here?" he called out as he crept deeper into where ever he was. "Hello?"

Off to his left, he heard a few muffled coughs. Quickly, Tyler grabbed the door and due to his extra strength, he ripped the door clean off the hinges.

"Oops," he murmured as he set the door down, and before him, a trio of three young kids, huddled together, the oldest probably no more than five years old.

"Oh, hello. I'm Magna Man," Tyler introduced himself.

Just then, flames shot out from behind the kids. Tyler jumped in front of then, knelt down, and covered them with his cape, shielding them from the fury.

"We've gotta get out of here," he exclaimed. "Come on!"

With one arm, Tyler scooped up the kids and ran just as the flames began to swallow the area they were just in. The youngest of the kids began to cry loudly, followed by the middle child. Tyler knew the oldest would be next if he didn't get out of there.

"Alright kids hang on. We're gonna jump!" Tyler yelled out as he sprinted for the hole he left when he flew into the building and dove out.

The oldest child screamed until she realized that they weren't falling. She along with he brother and sister were flying. Tyler held onto them and slowly glided down to the street before, and right into a mass of stunned fire fighters and onlookers.

"Mommy!" one of the girls cried as she jumped from Tyler's arm.

A young lady ran up to her daughters and grasped onto them tightly, tears streaming from her eyes. Tyler handed the young woman her baby son.

"My God, thank you so much," the woman sobbed, cradling her children. "Thank you."

Everyone else, fire fighters included, could only stare at the dark and imposing figure.

"Who are you?" someone finally asked.

Though they couldn't see his face, Tyler smiled. "Just call me 'Magna Man.'"

* * *

Chelsea lay in her bed, hands clasped behind her head. Her dog–a basset hound named Sam–lay at her feet, out cold and snoring. She had talked to Raven for nearly two hours, but she still couldn't sleep. Her mind was still stuck on the occurrences of earlier, mainly her rescuer.

Sitting next to her was a small, brown teddy bear holding a red rose, given to her by Ben back on Valentines Day. She picked it up, then squeezed it in a tight hug. It was warm and soothing, reminiscent of when she embraced Tyler for the first time. Quickly, she shunted the thoughts of Tyler. Or at least tried to.

"I'm with Ben," she said to herself, as a form a reassurance.

Chelsea cared deeply for her boyfriend. Not quite full-on love, but something very close. Since Valentine's Day, however, Ben had seemed to become somewhat colder towards her. And since Tyler's arrival on scene, he had become possessive. Both were things he had never been in the months that they were together. Without another thought, she released the bear as it slipped back onto her bed.

* * *

Silently, Tyler soared through the night. The lights from the towers in the financial district–downtown–reflected off the bay. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge stood proudly and spanned the water like a pathway guiding to new territories. Below him, the tallest building in the city, the Transamerica Pyramid, stood, pointing straight up to him and the stars beyond.

He soared above the narrow spire. _I'm sure Chelsea would love this,_ he thought to himself as he gradually began to descend towards the tower. Slowly, he touched a toe on the very top of the office tower, then he sat down on the top. The blazing red aircraft warning light briefly caused him to see black spots in his vision, but they quickly passed as his already inhibited sight compensated for the brightness.

After getting settled, he pulled his mask down around his neck.

"This is too cool," he said to himself as he absorbed the panoramic view high above the streets. "I wonder what mom's doing," he thought aloud.

On an adjacent building, Tyler saw a digital clock. At first, his eyesight zoomed in, blurred, then refocused as if the lense of a camera.

_2:25 in the morning,_ he concluded. _She's asleep. Like I should be._

Though he wasn't the least bit tired, he gingerly ascended into the late night air and whooshed back home. Figuring out what else he could do could wait until daytime.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: School Daze**

It had been a few days since Tyler transformed into Magna Man. The only other person to know–Jennifer–had been quiet, and somewhat apprehensive, but he knew her reasoning.

Mr. Kirkpatrick, the writing teacher, spoke aimlessly about something that most of the students had fallen asleep. Tyler himself began to nod off as well. Though he could function days on end without so much as a cat nap, listening to Kirkpatrick was brutal. And he had been though some brutal stuff.

Tyler checked his watch. _Another thirty minutes until lunch. Damn, _he thought to himself. Trying to keep himself entertained, he fiddled around with his necklace. When that failed, he began to doodle, on a piece of paper, a picture of a police motorcycle he saw on a website and wanted badly. A black and white 2005 BMW 1150 RT-P, the "p" meaning "police model." Entranced in his drawing, he absentmindedly stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, concentrating on every minor detail of the bike.

_Man, I gotta get one of these,_ he thought to himself, finishing up the last few touches on his dream bike. He remembered the first time he actually saw a police motorcycle.

* * *

Tyler sat in the passenger seat of the now parked jeep. Eva had ran inside of a gas station to make use of their restroom. Recently, she had bought him some new clothes to replace his torn and blood stained medical scrubs. Now, he sported a clean tee shirt, some blue jeans, and a clean pair of red and white Nike basketball shoes. To him, his new garb seemed too fresh and somewhat flashy. Something he wasn't used to at all.

"Are you sure you don't need to pee?" Eva asked as she opened the driver side door and hopped back in.

Tyler scrunched his face up, disgusted by her question. "No, I have no need to use the facilities. But thank you for asking."

"Whatever," she scoffed, then handed him something in a plastic bag. "Here. My dad used to buy me these when I was a kid."

Tyler looked in the bag and pulled out a small black pouch. In colorful bubble letters were the words 'Pop Rocks.' He studied the package, then looked back at Eva confused.

"Here. Let me get that for you," Eva took the packet and tore off a corner. "Hold your hand out."

Tyler held his hand out and Eva poured some of the grainy contents into his palm. "Okay, now pop it into your mouth," Eva instructed, trying to contain a hint of laughter she felt building inside her.

Tyler cocked an eyebrow. He knew something was up, but he shoved the granules of candy into his mouth. He closed his mouth and the sweet tasting candy melted in his mouth. Next, Tyler felt something pop inside his mouth, followed by another, then another, then dozens, then hundreds. Tyler's eyes shot wide open and he shot a horrified look at Eva. Eva, on the other hand, busted out laughing in a hysterical manner.

"Don't worry, kid," she said, still giggling and wiping her eyes. "I gave my pa the same look when he first gave me Pop Rocks."

"If candy makes such a violent chemical reaction when eaten, then why do people like candy so much?" Tyler asked, popping noises still audible from him mouth as he spoke.

"Not all candy pops." She clarified.

"Oh," Tyler responded in an elongated gasp. "May I have some more?"

"Sure. It's all for you," Eva answered with a warm smile. "But don't eat too much more. I asked the guy inside about some real food and he said there's a diner about a mile or so down the highway that makes the best burgers and steak fries."

She started up the jeep, then drove off, getting back onto Route 66. Tyler opened the bag of candy and shuffled through the contents of Snickers bars, Pop Rocks, Bazooka bubble gum, a packet of Skittles, and a large bad of peanut and regular M&M's.

"Thank you very much for the candy," he said, muffled because he was shoving a Snickers bar into his mouth, and enjoying chocolate for the first time.

As they drove off, Tyler spotted a couple of Arizona Highway Patrol Kawasaki police motorcycles roaring eastbound on the highway, the riders driving them side by side. Time seemed to move at a stand still as he watched the bikes go by.

"Uh Eva? May I ask you a question?"

"Sure, kid. And if I'm going to be your stand-in parent, you may wanna start calling me mom." Eva advised. "Guess I better call you son, or one of those other names my friends call their kids. So what's up?"

"Can I get a police motorcycle? I saw two go by."

"Well, as your 'mom'"–the word mom had a strange sound to Eva–"I'm inclined to say... no."

"Oh, okay." he shrugged, going back to his candy.

"Well because they're dange–" Eva began, "wait, did you say okay?"

Tyler nodded.

"Aren't you supposed to, y'know, bitch and moan to try and get your way?"

Tyler looked at her. "How would that possibly help?"

Eva scrunched her face up. Most of her girlfriends who had kids old enough to talk always complained about their children demanding their own way or were being quoted as "ungrateful little monsters." She had just found a kid who clearly didn't have anything to call his own except for the scraps of clothes on his back and was content.

"Hmm," she pondered aloud. "Maybe more kids should be sent to boot camps."

Eva laughed to herself, whereas Tyler shot her a glare that could burn through the polar ice caps.

"Ahem, sorry," she cautiously apologized, knowing what he was capable of, and that could set him off like a bomb.

* * *

The bell for lunch broke Tyler's train of thought. In unison, those who had fallen asleep awoke, gathered their things, and made a mad dash for the door, some getting stuck or entangled, trying to leave Mr. Kirkpatrick's class as soon as possible.

Once in the crowded halls, he could hear the discussions about Magna Man spread from student to student and staff member to staff member. _If they only knew_, he thought as a small smile crept on his face.

Back on Sunday, he tried to see if he had any powers when he didn't transform. Tops on his list was flight. Instead of just jumping from his backyard, Tyler climbed up to the roof and dove off–

–Face first into the grass.

Not one of his brighter moments. He was just his regular normal self, if one could qualify his already engineered traits as 'normal.'

* * *

Raven, Chelsea, Eddie, and Eddie's girlfriend, Chantel, sat in the cafeteria with their lunches. Raven and Eddie winced at the lunch–meatloaf.

"Gosh, can't they ever make a quality vegetarian lunch?" Chelsea whined. "It's always something with meat."

"Girl," Raven snapped in, "I don't think this _is _meat."

Eddie shook his tray a tad. "I don't think this is food, period. Is meat 'posed to wiggle like some jell-o?"

While Chantel wolfed down her food as if it was nothing, the other three leaned in close to examine the alleged meat-like substance; Eddie semi stabbing at it with his spork.

Tyler came up behind them and leaned in next to Chelsea. His eyes nearly rolled back in their sockets, but he soon regained his composure.

"What are we looking at?" Tyler whispered.

"Tying to figure out if this schoolhouse delicacy is actually some sort of life form." Raven clarified.

"Yeah, I'm testing with this scientific object–my spork," Eddie added in.

Chelsea also chimed in. "I think I saw it breathe. We should set it free."

Raven, Eddie, Chantel, even Tyler shot her a look saying, 'what the hell?' So as not to make her feel out of place Tyler noted, "It might morph into some sort of B-movie sci-fi monster if it gets free."

Chelsea looked over at him, her brown eyes twinkling and a soft smile on her rose hued lips as if saying a silent "thank you." Tyler gave a barely distinguishable wink, acknowledging her and silently saying "your welcome." Chantel let out a loud scoff, Took her spork, jabbed it into the specimen–the meatloaf, and shoved the whole thing into her mouth.

"Aww!" The four examiners groaned as Chantel chewed the wiggly meat, then swallowed.

"Does that answer your question?" Chantel asked sarcastically.

"Well," Tyler though for a moment of what to say. "I applaud her bravery."

"I ain't got no food now," Eddie complained, his jaw quivering as if he was going to cry.

"I'm sorry, Cookie lips." Chantel apologized sincerely. "But you can have a taste of me if you want." she informed seductively, causing Eddie to perk right back up.

"Well after what you just ate, you might want some of these." Raven handed Chantel and Eddie a piece of Dooublemint gun and a travel packet of Listerine Breath Strips. The two then walked off and out of the noisy lunch room.

"They always like that?" Tyler asked as he took a seat.

"Nah," Raven shrugged. "This is actually one of their less lovey-dovey moments. Usually their riding that ever-so popular roller coaster."

Both Chelsea and Raven moved their arms in a rhythmic wave motion, as if they were riding a roller coaster. Tyler nodded as if he understood what they were talking about. Honestly, however, he hand no clue about this hypothetical 'roller coaster' that they spoke of.

"So, did y'all here 'bout that 'Magna Man?' He's a real life Superman, y'know," Raven spoke. " Wonder what he looks like?"

"I dunno, Rae. It seems kinda weird. Some guy in a black suit that can fly?" Tyler implied, a barely noticeable hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well I think it's awesome," Chelsea chimed in, "I mean, how he saved those kids and all."

"Oh, me-me too." Tyler quickly snapped in.

The two girls gave him a strange look.

"What? You girls always change your minds." Tyler exclaimed defending himself, his eyes darting back and forth rapidly.

"Well I think the guy's a lunatic," Ben proclaimed, sliding a chair in between Chelsea and Tyler and taking a seat. "The last thing we need is some guy–"

"Who saves people, Ben?" Raven cut in. "I think this is _exactly_ what we need."

"I agree with Ben," Jennifer quietly said as she too came to the table and sat next to Raven.

Tyler gave her a look. Not one of anger, but one of being hurt on the inside. Something he hadn't really experienced in his life. Well, he had, but he never outwardly showed it to anyone, not even his mom.

"I have something I need to take care of," Tyler grumbled with his voice somewhat lower than normal.

With that, he slid his chair out, grabbed his book bag, and walked away. Of all the people in the world, he would have thought that his best friend would be on his side.

"Tyler? Hold on a sec," Jennifer raced up behind him. "Please?"

He stopped, looked up at the ceiling tiles for a moment wondering why he stopped, then turned to face her. "What is it, Jay?"

It was the first time she had seen Tyler hurt in such a way. Since she had known him–about seven years–he had always been a happy-go-lucky sort of guy, even with his past.

"I'm sorry. But you've gotta understand that I care about you, y'know?"

"So you care by going against me?" Tyler whispered so as on eavesdroppers could hear. "I may not know much about feelings and all that other stuff that make up a person, but I _do_ know betrayal."

Jennifer grabbed him by the strap of his backpack and led him to an empty hallway. "I didn't betray you. Yes, you are special and have abilities I or someone else could only dream of. But you aren't invincible. What if you get killed?"

There was genuine concern in her words and though he didn't really like it, it was nice to have others care about him.

"Well, Jay, if I'm killed, then I'm killed. But as Magna Man, I can be a symbol of hope. Show the people that even when times are at their worst, there's always hope if they believe."

* * *

After Jennifer and Tyler left, Ben, Chelsea, and Raven sat at the table in the cafeteria. The three remained silent as they ate their lunches, the two girls seeming uncomfortable for some reason.

"Hey baby, we should go out on Friday. I was thinking dinner on the wharf, maybe?" Chelsea finally spoke up.

"Can't. Gotta game then." Ben said, his mind seeming to be elsewhere.

"Well, how about after your game?" she offered.

"Won't feel like going on then," Ben protested.

"Okay. Well then maybe Saturday we could–"

"How about you stop smothering me!" Ben snarled, causing the packed lunch room to stop what they were doing momentarily. Once things went back to normal, Ben spoke, "Why don't you ask that jerk-off Tyler to do something with you?"

With that, ben slammed his sandwich down, grabbed his stuff, and tromped off. Chelsea's lower lip quivered as this was the first time Ben had ever yelled at her.

"Girl? I'ma be right back. I'll talk with Ben," Raven offered as she got up from her seat and chased ben down.

"Ben, what the hell is your malfunction?" Raven asked, her tone full of irritation.

"I saw him earlier. He was getting to close to my girl. _My _girl!" Ben griped.

Raven had noticed that Chelsea and Tyler seemed to click. Whenever the two were close together, they seemed to light up, as well as Chelsea telling her that thing between her and Ben were on the rocks. Back when they first started going out and getting serious, Ben and Chelsea were almost the perfect couple with the two of them sharing the same interests and all. The last thing Raven wanted to see, however, was her best friend in the world get hurt, knowing that Chelsea had been burned by boys in the past.

"You know something Ben?" Raven said with an angry calmness, "Chelsea doesn't belong to you. She's not some piece of property that you can just claim."

Ben remained silent as his animosity continued to manifest.

"Maybe Chelse should be with Tyler. At least he seems to care about her." Raven continued.

She then turned around and marched back into the cafeteria, her heels clacking against the hard linoleum floors of the school's hallway.

Ben knew that she was right. But it would be a cold day in hell if he let Chelsea get away and start something with Tyler._ I'm not gonna let that happen,_ he thought. _No way._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Catch**

After Tuesday's blow up on his girlfriend, Ben knew he had to make it up to her. Since then, he had left her kind, sweet text messages on her cell phone as well as given her a box of her favorite organic chocolates. He hadn't talked to her personally as she had avoided him for most of the week.

Finally, on Friday, he found her alone at her locker.

"Chelsea? Can I talk to you?' he nervously asked.

"What is it?" she coldly responded, keeping her face in her locker as if she was busy.

Ben took a deep breath. "Look, I was a jerk on Tuesday and I wanna make it up to you somehow."

Still with her head in her locker, she said, "I'm listening."

"Oh, I was thinking maybe a picnic in Golden Gate Park during sunset."

Chelsea turned around, her eyes misty, yet a bright smile curled her lips. The two embraced and kissed each other on the lips.

"No public display of passion!" Mr. Lawler, the principal, ordered as he walked by, a spray of saliva erupting from his mouth with each strong sounding syllable.

* * *

Since the game was immediately after school, Eddie and Tyler were excused from going to study hall.

"So, my brotha'? How many home runs you plan to rob?" Eddie emphatically asked.

"Oh I don't know, Mista Thomas." Tyler responded with a slight swagger in his step as the two marched down the hallway towards the locker rooms. "But I must say I feel this'll be a day where no one his one over my head. Now testify!"

"Preach on preacher, hallelujah!" they both announced.

"Brotha Thomas?"

"Yes sir Brotha McGinnis?"

"How many base thieves you plan on gunnin' down?"

"Oh I don't know, playa, but my arm's feelin' live. So maybe all of 'em."

"All of 'em you say, Brotha Thomas?"

"That's what I said, Brotha McGinnis."

"Well then, sound off like you got a pair, soldier."

As the two emphatically marched down the hall way, they both shouted a loud, guttural "Ooh rah!" that echoed through the hallway.

Once in the locker room, the two changed into their home uniforms–a yellow-gold sleeveless jersey with green numbers and letters and white pants with a dark green stripe down the seam. Unlike the others, Tyler wore a green turtleneck under his jersey. Not because he was cold, but it was just a trademark of his. Even if he wore one of his Major League jerseys, he wore a turtleneck.

"McGinnis? Why you wearing a tee neck? It ain't cold out," Ricky Timmons, the team's left fielder asked as he buckled the belt on his pants then but some eye black under his eyes to fend off any sun glare.

"It's my thing, home boy." Tyler replied.

Ben finally made his way into the locker room. Both Eddie and Tyler looked up at him, staying quiet as he approached. They had heard about what happened between him, Raven, and Chelsea. Tyler gave him the benefit of the doubt guessing that Ben was just stressed about something.

"Ben? How's it going, man?" Eddie asked.

"It's going," Ben quietly answered.

"Well alright, man. We'll see you on the field, then," Tyler noted as he grabbed his baseball gear and went outside, Eddie following suit.

* * *

Outside, the air was warm and there was only a few puffy cumulus clouds in the sky; the perfect Friday. The team took a jog around the track, then stretched on the field. Their opponent, the San Mateo High Sandstorms, were already finished with their pre-game drills and had already occupied the away team dugout.

Soon, it was game time and the 'Cuda's took the field. Out in deep center, Tyler felt a peace with the green grass and the big blue sky up above. His peace would periodically be broken whenever a ball was hit to him, which he casually jogged under, caught, then threw it back to the infield. Things seemed to breeze by as he could hear everything; the cheers from the crowd, the _crack_ of the ball off the baseball bats, as well as the sounds of the city. Tyler loved it.

During the fifth inning, the score was knotted at zero. The pitcher, Youki Sakai, was doing a good job, basically striking everyone out or getting weak grounders to the infielders. Tyler looked into the crowd of people watching. Nobody he knew.

Then, he saw _her._ A ray of sun sent from Heaven seemed to focus only on Chelsea as she made her way into the bleachers. Briefly, Tyler's vision zoomed in on her, as she was wearing a light blue denim mini skirt, A white tank top-like shirt, and wooden soled platform sandals. Maybe it was the lighting, maybe her attire, maybe it was both, but every curve in her body seemed to be absolutely perfect. A slight breeze tousled her hair–until Tyler realized that was just wishful thinking.

"Wow," he breathed as time seemed to stop.

His attention quickly went back to the game. Dead ahead of him, a low line drive, hit by one of the San Mateo batters was sinking fast. Tyler sprinted forward and stretched his gloved right hand out–since he threw, wrote, ate, did just about everything with his left hand, though he was trained to be ambidextrous and could do everything righty. He just chose to use his left hand since it set him apart from most even more so than his already inherited uniqueness.

Tyler dove for the white ball, the red seams clearly visible to him. Just before the ball could touch the grass, he put his mitt between the ball and the ground and closed it quickly. The crowed went to their feet and the roar of cheering echoed from the school building and off the other structures around the field. Timmons, along with the right fielder, Sam "Probie" Jones. He had the nickname "Probie" for two reasons: one, he was constantly on athletic probation and two, his alleged sexual exploits he constantly bragged about. The team found the latter to be unlikely since he struck out with every girl he attempted to date for the past year not to mention he struck out the most on the team when batting, though the season was still young as this was only their second game.

The two gave Tyler a slap on his backside and the back of his head–a term of endearment in sports–as they jogged back to their dugout. Once there, more smacking ensued. He didn't have much time to relish in his saving catch as it was his turn to bat. He grabbed a batting helmet, his batting gloves, and his aluminum 34 inch bat. He never liked the sound of aluminum as it made that annoying "_ping_" when it connected with the ball. He wished he could used a wooden bat like they did in the major leagues, but those were only for the pro's.

He took his place in the left batter's box, waved his bat back and forth, then went into his batting stance that mirrored his favorite baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr. The cheers continued as he stood, wriggling his bat slightly to make sure his timing was right. In the corner of his eye, he could see Jennifer, Raven and Chelsea standing on the bleachers shouting hysterically. The first pitch zipped by–high and inside; ball one.

The next pitch, a fastball, was right down the heart of the plate. Tyler reared up his bat, then swung solidly, feeling the connection between ball and stick. The baseball shot right past the pitcher's head, causing him to hit the dirt, and landed in center field, where the fielder gathered it and tossed it to the San Mateo second baseman. A clean base hit.

"You the one who made that catch?" The first baseman asked as Tyler stood there.

Tyler nodded.

"Man, that was me who hit that. My girl was watching."

"Sorry."

Tyler took a small lead from first base. He bent down, wiggled his fingers just above the dirt on the base path, and kept a sharp eye on the pitcher, who looked right back at him. He took a little larger lead, squatted down, then pivoted his hips and ran towards second base just as the pitcher wound up and fired his first pitch to Ben. Tyler dove into second just as the San Matteo catcher hurled the ball to the shortstop who was covering the base.

"Safe!"

Tyler got up and brushed himself off. The crowed roared wildly. Tyler looked over and gave Raven, Jennifer, and Chelsea a special acknowledgment by slightly tugging on his helmet and a wink.

* * *

"Gosh, I love baseball," Raven exclaimed.

"Oh so do I." Jennifer added in. "The crowd, the strategy..."

"The mascots, the snacks," Chelsea also noted.

"The tight pants," Raven smugly squeezed into the conversation.

Chelsea and Jennifer glared at her.

"Oh don't even try that," Raven clarified, waving a finger at the two of them. "Y'all both know you was lookin' at some baseball player butt. Don't lie."

The two girls gave a guilty nod.

"That's what I thought. Tryin' to get on me. I swear," Raven grumbled under her breath. "And Chelse? Why are you all dolled up? It's just a ball game."

"Me and Ben are going on a date afterwards," she informed.

"Oh," Raven huffed, laced with skepticism, which Chelsea caught on to.

"Listen, Rae, I know–"

"Chelse, I just don't wanna see you get hurt again." Raven said in a caring manner.

Jennifer also added, "she's right, Chelly."

"Aww, thanks you guys," Chelsea said, her eyes becoming misty due to her friends caring so much. The three embraced into a hug, which all the boys around them quickly turned around to watch and sighed a loud "Aww."

"Oh turn around and watch the game, ya nasties!" Raven shouted.

* * *

The locker room was abuzz with chatter as the Barracudas won two to nothing. Ben, who hit a home run, scoring both Tyler and himself, quickly got clean, changed and left before he could be congratulated. Soon, the locker room was empty, except for Tyler, who sat on the room's bench for a while. On his right shoulder, his old designation number, zero four four, was burned into his flesh as if he was branded like cattle. Whenever someone asked him about it, he lied and claimed it was something tribal.

He put his long sleeve navy blue shirt on, then over that, he put on his Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki jersey, then grabbed his stuff and headed out. As soon as he was there, he saw Chelsea standing near the doorway.

"Hey, Tyler. That was a nice catch you made." she said with a smile.

Tyler's attention wasn't focused on her smile. He eyed her from her perfectly painted red toes–red being his favorite color–

"Uh, thanks," he stammered, trying not to focus on her figure. "You look... really nice today."

Taken by his compliment, she blushed. "Thank you. Is Ben still down there? We were supposed to go out after the game."

"I didn't see him. He must have went home to change into his dating clothes," Tyler informed.

"Oh," Chelsea's smile disappeared and her gazed went down to her sandals.

Tyler hated to see her down and he didn't want to just leave her alone when–or if–Ben came back at all. "Hey? If you want, I could wait with you. You know, 'til Ben comes back." he offered.

Chelsea looked up at him, her eyes glazed over and welled with tears of gratitude.

"Oh come one now. If you cry then I–I...oh man," Tyler joked, then began to sob in a high pitched wail. "I think I need a moment."

Chelsea began to laugh even though a stray tear managed to trickle down the side of her cheek. As if it was instinct, Tyler took a finger and wiped her tear away gently, which he hastily removed from her face. Though it wasn't outwardly noticeable, due to his complexion, Tyler's face became flushed.

"I-I'm sorry. I saw a tear and just reacted–"

Chelsea put a finger on his lips, cutting him clean off. "It's okay."

Tyler's eyes were wide open as a flurry of thoughts entered into his mind. Quickly, the dream he had last week began to enter his memory. He knew he needed to think of something else and quick, otherwise the situation could become dire and he would do something he might regret.

A baseball on the ground caught Chelsea's eye. She removed her finger from keeping Tyler's mouth buttoned, walked over to it, and picked it up.

"In Veggie Camp, I played a little ball." she said matter-of-factly. "I was a pitcher."

_Whew, baseball,_ he thought. Then said, "Really? Well let's see what you got then."

She scoffed, then said sarcastically, "I'm not in my play clothes."

"So you chicken?"

"No!"

Tyler began to cluck and prance around like a chicken.

"Alright then chicken boy, let's do this," she proclaimed as she walked into the grass of the field, kicked off her shoes, and rubbed the baseball, getting a feel for it.

She knew he was kidding around with her, but she decided to run with it and at least have some fun while at it. Tyler opened up his bag, grabbed his mitt, then jogged onto the field.

"Oh, so chicken boy needs his mitt? Aww, and he's a left handed weirdo," Chelsea taunted as Tyler squatted down.

_No she did not just crack on me being left handed,_ Tyler thought. "Oh har har har! Just throw the ball, Red!"

Chelsea began to pretend as if she was in a game. She leaned in–giving Tyler a clear view of her cleavage–then stood erect, coiled her body, then kicked her leg into the air and hurled a blazing fastball, zeroed in for Tyler's heart. Just in the nick of time, Tyler snagged the ball and the resonating _pop_ echoed. He winced, slammed the mitt and ball down on the ground, and waved his hand, trying to shake off the pain.

"I call that one my organic cheese," she proudly said, making a pretend gun with her hand, then blew on her index finger as if it was the smoking barrel.

Tyler looked at the palm of his right hand. A large red mark where the ball impacted with his hand was clear as day. Chelsea walked up to him and took a look at his throbbing paw. She took it in her hand, then did something that caught him way off guard. She gave it a kiss.

"There. That'll make it better," she sweetly said.

If Tyler had died right then and there, he would have died the happiest man in the world. Emotions that he never knew he even had flowed within and he felt that he could literally do anything. At that very moment as they stood hand in hand, a flock of birds flew over head and the sky's hue changed from light blue, to an orange-rose-purple concoction as the sun began to dip behind the hills that made up most of West San Francisco.

"So, um... would you like to grab some ice cream or something? My treat," Tyler offered.

* * *

Hours passed by as if they were nothing more than minutes as the two sat on the outside patio of the Italian café, Mio Gellato. During the whole time she was with Tyler, she never thought about Ben as Tyler kept her entertained for the night. He had even given up his Mariners jersey when she had became chilly from the ice cream and cool sea air blowing off the bay about a mile or so away.

Chatting and laughing, the two walked home as it was a quarter to 11 at night. Once at her house, Tyler walked her up to her front door. Something his mom told him to do, just to be gentlemanly.

"I had a great time tonight," Chelsea said.

"Yeah, it was fun. We-we should do it again... sometime," Tyler nervously responded. "I better head on home."

Just as Tyler began to walk off, Chelsea stopped him. "Hey. What about your shirt?"

Tyler held up a hand. "I'll grab it another time. See you, Chelsea."

"Well, okay. Thank you." she called out as he walked down the hill.

Chelsea stood there, watching him as he went below horizon. She wrapped herself in her arms, able to smell his shirt, which smelled like a mixture of Tommy Hilfiger Cologne, Old Spice, and Downy fabric softener. It was intoxicating in a good way as she inhaled the sweet scent.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Catch... Once More, With Feeling**

"You're late," Eva said as Tyler walked in the door.

"Sorry mom, but I have a really good reason." Tyler explained.

Eva could see it in his eye. "You were with a girl, huh? Was she cute? Did you guys kiss?"

"Uh mom, I'm not one–" Tyler began, but was then cut off by the TV.

"_We have breaking news out of San Francisco International Airport._ _We go out there live to reporter Trisha Takinawa. Trisha?"_

"_Yes, I'm here at the international terminal where we've just been informed that a United Airlines flight from Hong Kong has just suffered from an unknown engine_ _problem. United officials haven't told us much, but we do know that it's United Airlines flight 293, about 70 miles out over the Paci–" _

"My God, those poor people," Eva gasped as her gazed locked to the television. She then looked up, only to find Tyler was gone.

Tyler sprinted down the street with his arms out to his sides.

* * *

"It's go time!" he shouted, transforming him into Magna Man. 

With that, he leapt into the air, his right arm tucked close to his body, while his left fist was straight out, punching through the night. His cape flapped in the night as he turned westward and headed out over the open ocean.. _Gotta get there fast,_ he thought. He panned the area and sure enough, just up ahead, he saw a large gray and dark blue object. On the side, in bold white lettering, was United Airlines.

"There's our bird. Hmm, a Boeing 747," he said to no one in particular.

Just then, he saw a bright flash as one of the jet's four engines exploded.

"Good God," he gasped and he rocketed towards the ailing jet.

* * *

"The captain and co-pilot struggled with the controls. Sweat poured off their foreheads and they strained with the throttles and control yoke. 

"Sir! Engines two and three are out. We're losing–" The co-pilot started to say

A violent shudder rocket the massive Boeing airliner and the plane began to bank hard to the right. The cockpit audible cockpit warning of "_whoop whoop_... pull up" blared.

"Oh shit," the captain cursed under his breath, knowing those were the last words of most pilots.

In the cabin, people screamed as they saw a bright flash outside as fire engulfed one of the four engines. Some began to pray for a miracle, others cried, while some stayed eerily calm, coming to terms with their fate. Loose items started to float as the plane went into a dive headed for the black waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Back in the cockpit, the two flight officers pulled back on the throttle, idling the one remaining engine, and tried to pull up. There was no response as the engine explosion damaged the hydraulic lines used to control the jet.

"Captain, there's something on radar coming towards us. Fast as out twelve." the co-pilot warned.

Through the night, he could see the lights of the San Francisco Bay area. _So close, yet so far,_ he thought to himself. He started to make his peace, realizing that nothing would save him, or the 340 other souls on board. Suddenly, something just outside caught his eye, as if it was black moving upon black. He could have sworn he just heard a voice saying_, hang on. Help's on the way._

Suddenly, something felt different. Everyone on board felt it. The plane was slowing down. The captain took a look at the mechanical gauges, as the electric ones went out an hour ago. The airspeed indicator was dropping and dropping rapidly. There rate of descent was also slowing.

"Sir? What's going on?" the co-pilot asked, shaking.

"Hell if I know. I think... I think it's a miracle..." The captain responded.

* * *

With everything Tyler had, Tyler got in front of the plane, place his back on the nose of the 240 foot long jet, and literally _pushed. _He could see the ocean coming up fast and at the speed the Boeing 747 was going, it would disintegrate on impact. 

"Come on, slow down now," He grunted through teeth clenched so hard that he felt they would shatter.

The piercing whine of the plane's remaining engine as well as the force of the wind on his masked face was giving him a headache. His muscles started to get sore as if they were ripping clean off his bones. Gradually, he slithered his body lower onto the massive jet's fuselage and positioned himself just in front of the doors for the nose wheel landing gear.

Tyler could feel the spray of salt water mist hit his body. They were getting close to the water.

"Aaagh!" He roared with determination.

With every little bit of will, strength, and hope, he forced the plane to level off, barely above the white capped waves. Tyler willed for a little more, and was rewarded as the lumbering jet's nose began to rise. Altitude was soon gained between the aircraft and the ocean.

"Thank you, Jesus," Tyler breathed knowing that it wasn't just him that stopped this plane from crashing.

* * *

Inside the cabin, there was absolute silence, except for the soothing tone of the last engine. All 325 passengers looked out of the nearest window, noticing that their plane was no longer in a stomach lurching dive. They were, however, very low to the surface as ocean waves were visible just below the wings of the plane. 

"Sir? Are we down?" The co-pilot asked, not realizing what was going on.

The captain opened his eyes. He had been praying, not for him, but so that someone would watch over his wife, kids, and grandchildren. If what he thought was really happening, he would get to go home and see them again. The captain put on his headset, his hands shaking.

"San Francisco approach? This is United Two Niner Three, requesting emergency landing clearance."

There was a momentary lapse, but San Francisco tower finally responded. "United Two Niner three, you are cleared for emergency landing on runway of your choice."

A feeling of relief washed over the two flight officers.

"United Two Niner Three, cleared for landing, good day." The captain announced.

* * *

Tyler managed to coerce the 600,000 pound tube of metal, fiberglass, wiring, and people up to five thousand feet. He focused in on a sequence of strobe lights, guiding him forward–runway landing lights. 

"Here comes the fun part," he said to himself as he muscled the plane to the right, lining it up with runway 10 Left–the longest of San Francisco International's cris-crossing runways.

Apparently, the pilots up above caught the notion as Tyler noticed the landing gear bay doors split open, letting the many wheels that made up the 747's landing gear drop into position and lock in place. Briefly, he took a look behind him. All the wheels were down, but the flaps on the wings were still in the up position, and the plane needed the flaps to slow down.

"Guess I'll have to do this the tough way," he muttered.

Tyler forced the nose of the jet slightly upwards, known as flaring. The plane began to slow as well as descend. As if he had a built in head's up display, A series of digital figures showing Tyler's relative speed and height scrolled onto his retina.

"Hmm, didn't know I could do that. Just another perk of being strange I guess, he thought aloud, though he couldn't really hear himself over the engine noise and wind.

On his retina's he could see that he, along with the plane, were traveling at around 180 miles per hour. Tyler made a few "minor" adjustments, making sure the jet was aligned with the runway center hash marks. Soon, the gigantic _10L, _indicating the runway rocketed right under. The runway lights

* * *

"Fifty feet," the co-pilot called out. "Forty... thirty... twenty. Speed, two hundred knots and falling. Ten feet... five.. four... three... two..." 

The plane shook violently as the wheels touched down on the asphalt of runway 10 left, leaving a trail of smoke from the rough connection.. The captain pulled a lever adjacent to the throttles, activating the spoiler air brakes.

Nothing happened.

The runway was over two miles long, but with the plane's speed, they would sail right off the end and into the bay just beyond the threshold.

"How are we gonna stop this ailing bird?" he wondered aloud.

"Captain! Look, out front. Is that... what the hell is that?" The co-pilot cried, noticing something, or someone, pressed onto the nose of the craft.

The captain _did_ notice something. It looked like–hair. The top of someone's head.

* * *

Tyler used his flight and strength to get in front of the jet. He planted his hands into the smooth skin of the wide body jumbo jet, planted them, then pushed with all his might. He would have went under the plane and dug his feet into the hard surface, but that would destroy the runway and render the airport useless for a good while. 

He gritted his teeth once more and the veins in his neck began to well up, bursting though his skin. He out his head down ad shut his eyes.

"Stop now," he shouted. "Stop!"

With that, the plane slowed dramatically, then stopped.

"A perfect landing,'said wearily, then dropped about 15 feet to the ground below and lay there, completely worn out and zapped of energy.

* * *

The doors and emergency exits to the plane shot open. The inflatable yellow escape slides draped to the ground below, and people began to pour out of the jet. Fire trucks, police vehicles, ambulances, and news vans raced up and surrounded the 241 foot long jet. The passengers and crew of United flight 293 then noticed a figure laying lifeless on the runway. 

"Sir? Is that..." the co-pilot started to ask.

Before the captain, or anyone else could say anything, the black costumed, caped, and masked figure mustered, the stood up, breathing hard.

"D-did you... I mean, were you the one who saved us? The captain asked.

The black and silver garmented figure nodded.

"I'd better go before the news people get here." Tyler said, then looked up at the plane, then back at the captain. "She a dash four-hundred?"

The captain nodded, still somewhat in shock.

"Nice bird. I'm gonna be honest though, my personal favorite airliner's the triple seven. Well'p, take care," Tyler gave a curt two fingered salute.

Before he could take off, the captain held him on the shoulder. "Wait. How can we ever thank you. The lives of all of us are–"

"You'll never have to thank me. I'm just doing what's right."

With that, Tyler gracefully vaulted into the night sky and flew away.

"Magna Man! Wait! Can't we get an interview?" the dozens upon dozens of news officials and camera crew called out as he soared away back towards town.

* * *

Raven talked with Chelsea on the phone, expecting her to be sad and broken. She was shocked, however, to hear her upbeat. 

"So your date with Ben went good?" she asked.

"_Oh, he never showed up._" Chelsea informed over the phone.

"Then why are you in such a good mood?" Raven inquired.

Chelsea hesitated for a moment, then explained. "_I was with Tyler. I was sad that Ben was a no-show, then Tyler wiped my tears and he was awkward, but in that cute kind of way then we played catch and I pitched my 'organic cheese' fastball and it left a bruise so I kissed–_"

"Whoa! You and Tyler kissed? How was it?" Raven asked, her mind flooding with questions.

"_No, no. I kissed his hand. You know, to make it feel better." _Chelsea corrected.

"Oh."

"_Anyway, we then watched the sunset from the baseball field, and he took me for some ice cream and we talked for a couple hours."_

"About?"

"_Stuff."_

"What kind of stuff?"

"_Um... stuff stuff–Oh my gosh. Rae, you've gotta turn on the news, quick." _Chelsea ordered.

"What channel?" Raven asked, then wondered, _why the news, anyway._

"_Any channel. Just do it!"_

"Alright, alright, dang."

Raven grabbed the remote to her television and sure enough, the news was on. On the screen, it read "Miracle At SFO." There was a grainy amateur footage video of a plane, a big plane. The video then zoomed in and focused on the front of the jet. Pushing on the front of the plane was a figure wearing all black–Magna Man.

"_Rae? You there? Raven?"_

"Yeah, Chelse. I'm still here."

"_This is amazing. He literally caught that plane and saved all those people."_

Raven kept her eyes glued to the tv. The video now switched from the grainy footage, to a professional shot of all the passengers, crew, and pilots briefly conversing with Magna, who then flew off before any of the news crews could interview him.

"Well, at least he seems to be modest... and kinda shy," Raven shrugged.

* * *

Tyler double-timed it back home. Just before he could land, his powers deactivated–while he was still thirty feet up. 

"Oh great," he groaned as he floated momentarily before free falling and landing in the oak tree in the neighbor's yard.

"Oh man, this isn't good," as he checked his surroundings, realizing this was the Mendoza's back yard.

The Mendoza's were nice people, but their dog, Cookie, was another story. Under the tree, Cookie's dog house–large enough for three Tyler's to fit in with room–sat, and sure enough, Cookie, a three hundred pound St. Bernard, emerged showing her teeth and globules of drool dripping from her mouth.

"Stay Cookie. Good girl, good Cookie." Tyler hoped.

Cookie began to growl. She then advanced on his position. Tyler went into a crouch and began to imitate the "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin.

"Crikey! You're a lil' beaut aren't you. Woo!" Tyler spoke in a horrible fake Australian accent. "Oh you're a naughty one, eh?"

Cookie began to bark loudly, then bolted after Tyler.

"No Cookie that's a bad Cookie!" Tyler cried, racing for the fence.

In a single bound, he vaulted over the fence dividing the Mendoza's yard, from his. He landed flat on his back, narrowly missing mom's chrysanthemums. If he crushed those, he'd be more than dead. Tyler got up, brushed himself off, and quietly walked though the back door, hoping mom was asleep.

"Where the hell have you been?" Eva demanded to know. "And what happened to your hair–" she got up from her seat at the kitchen table and pulled him down by the scruff of his shirt so their eyes were level–"and when'd your eyes turn green?"

"Uh... my friend, Raven, made me one of her fashion guinea pigs. You know, she's been watching that 'Queer Eye For The Straight Guy' and I guess she was influenced." Tyler tried to explain.

"Oh. Is Raven the girl you were hanging out with earlier?" Eva asked in a probing manner.

"N-n-no."

"Well did this girl give you that necklace your wearing?" Eva grilled.

"This?" Tyler said, holding the stones in the pal of his hand. "No, I... found it." he said, then muttered under his breath so his mom couldn't hear, "More like it found me. And I'm glad it did."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Down By The Bay... **

Three months after Tyler first arrived on scene and became his alter ego, talk still ran rampant about The Magna Man, not just in the city, but around the world, with most of his moments being that of stopping criminals or rescuing people from peril.

Somewhere in the middle of Death Valley, California, where no person was, Tyler arranged three 20 foot tall, ten ton boulders into a neat row. Before he placed the last boulder into place, he gingerly tossed it up and down as if it was nothing more than a basket ball.

"I'm sure Eddie couldn't cross me up with this bad boy," Tyler thought aloud, referring to the times when he played a few games of basketball during lunch. Though Tyler had the height advantage, Eddie easily outmatched him in skill, though Tyler did enjoy constantly dunking the ball on him.

He dropped the boulder into place. The area shook from the massive rock as it thudded solidly into the dusty ground. A desert breeze blew in causing his cape to sway off to one side and his hair to blow in his masked face. Elegantly, he bounded into the air, then landed about a hundred yards from the boulders. Next, he held his right palm out in front of him.

"Hope this works," he said.

A couple weeks ago, he had foiled an attempted bank robbery. When he pointed to one of the criminals, his hands felt extremely warm and a brilliant glow began to radiate from his palm. Though it was somewhat small, a small beam of concentrated heat energy blasted from his hand, singing the hair from the perpetrators head's. At least that was the conclusion Tyler had come to.

Focusing on the targets some distance away, his hand began to feel warm, but tingly, as if it was asleep. Soon, an orb of orange-yellow-red phosphorescent matter materialized, then shot forth. Within the blink of an eye, the center boulder shattered into a mushrooming fireball. The resulting shockwave also destroyed the remaining two boulders, as well as knocked Tyler clean off his feet and onto his backside and skidding on the dust.

"That. Kicked. Ass." Tyler exclaimed, laying on his back and waiting for the blindness from the explosion to wear off. "Wish I could have did that to DuPont and that complex." he wished, referring to his first so-called "caretaker" in a life he wished would never enter his mind.

"One good placed shot, and boom."

* * *

Tyler and Jennifer walked through Chinatown. The small city within a city was bustling with activity as people walked into and out of stores and small restaurants. Foods like roasted duck, dumplings, and other exotic delicacies from China filled the air, causing Tyler's mouth to water with hunger. Beautiful statuettes of lions and dragons made of jade, ivory, or bronze filled the windows.

"Jay? I'm gonna grab something to eat. You want anything?" Tyler offered.

When she said no, Tyler shrugged, then jogged across the street to a small vendor cart. A withered old lady of Chinese decent looked up and smiled, her already evident cheek bones seeming to grow larger. The old lady's small, beady eyes then locked onto the ornamentation around Tyler's neck. Her eyes seemed to double in size.

"_Ay yah!_ You are the one, young man. You are the Magna Man."

Tyler briefly looked from side to side out of the corner of his eyes, then he looked back at her. "Shh!" he hissed. "How did you know that?" he asked in a whisper.

"You have the Stones of Magna and Serenity around your neck, young one." she responded.

"How do you know about them? Who are you?" Tyler questioned, leaning forward and propping himself on the food cart.

"My name is Huen Fa. I am a prophet of Magnus. I'm here to warn you that you will have an encounter with another being who possesses mystical powers."

Tyler thought on this for a moment. "How do I find them? I can't check the whole city."

"Whoever the person is, they will find you." Huen Fa told Tyler. "Now is there anything else I can do for you young one?"

"Well, I was going to ask for a satay beef on a stick and an egg roll. But I don't think I'm hungry," Tyler sighed.

"Bah, you're a teenage boy. You're always hungry," Huen Fa snorted as she prepped his food, then handed it to him.

"One more thing, young one. Be careful. Though you have gifts and power one can only dream of, you are still human and you are not invincible." Huen Fa warned as she took his money.

Tyler wolfed down his food quickly, then met back up with Jennifer, who was busy purchasing a jade bracelet.

"Took you long enough," she complained as she took her newly purchased item and put it around her wrist. "I can smell that you had beef. I hope you thought about that poor cow while you were stuffing it into your gourd."

"Yeah, yeah, stow it super veggie. Listen, some old lady said that someone's looking for me." Tyler informed. "Some who's like me."

"What do you mean _like you_? Someone rela–"

Tyler pointed to the rocks on his necklace, which Jennifer caught on to. Her eyes shot wide open. "Well what are we gonna do?"

"Nothing we can do except wait.

"Let's head out. The guy's are waiting for us at Fisherman's Wharf."

The two walked down Washington Street, then turned north onto Hyde. Jennifer pulled out her cell phone and read a text message left by Chelsea.

"I guess we're going to Ghiradelli Square first." Jennifer informed, then asked, "So when are you and Chelsea gonna hook up?"

"What 'chu talkin' 'bout, Jay?"

"Oh don't deny it. You got a serious thing for Chelsea, it's as clear as day."

"Jay, you're outta gas."

"Yeah, whatever super boy. All I know is your ass perks right on up whenever you see Chelly. I bet you'd love to unwrap her for your birthday, huh?"

Tyler couldn't help but laugh at that thought. Why lie? It would be a nice gift, but present wise, he had his eye on a BMW Motorcycle. He brought it up with his mom a few times and she knew that he was responsible enough to have one. He hoped this would be the year he'd get it.

* * *

Raven, Chelsea, and Eddie waited at the corner of Embarcadero and Hyde. Eddie walked around the corner to try and get better reception for his cell phone so he could call his girlfriend and see if she was coming as well, giving Raven and Chelsea a little time to chat.

"So, girl, what's the deal with you and Tyler?" Raven asked. "I know you like him."

"You were reading my mind, weren't you?" Chelsea demanded to know.

"I'm nosy, girl, I can't help it," Raven said without a lick of guilt. "Plus, whenever you went to a baseball game, you'd always think 'I hate you Ben, rot in hell you jerk!'"

"Rae!"

"Girl, I told you I was nosy, damn."

"Yeah. But, gosh, I dunno, Rae."

"Don't know about what? Chelse, that boy is crushing on you. He's got a Chelsea jones."

"What? He know's a Chelsea Jones?"

Raven furrowed her brow. "No Chelsea. I mean he's _'jonesing' _for you. He want's you."

"How do you know, Rae? Oh God, you haven't been reading his mind, have you? Cause–"

"Girl, I don't have to read his mind." Raven then saw him and Jennifer walking down the way. "It's all in his face. When he looks at you, he lights up like a hundred watt bulb. Just watch him when he comes up."

Chelsea observed Tyler, and sure enough, as soon as he greeted her, he _did_ light up, which in turn caused her to blush and smile brightly.

"Told you, girl," Raven whispered in Chelsea's ear. "And look at you all happy and stuff."

Chelsea chuckled a bit. Raven was right, his face was like an open book and, apparently, so was hers. Her smile was soon interrupted by a loud crash somewhere off in the distance.

"My God, what was that?" Raven asked.

The group ran around the corner, right into Eddie.

"You guys hear that?" Eddie asked.

Just then, a mass of tourists came running from the attractions on the piers that Fisherman's Wharf offered. A small series of detonations then caused the whole area to sway as if there was a small earthquake. Screams and muffled cries for help rang out through the blasts.

"Guys, we gotta get outta here!" Eddie yelled.

Complying, Raven, Chelsea, Eddie, and Jennifer took off without another word. Once they felt they were a safe distance, they realized Tyler was no where in sight.

Tyler tried to make his way towards the piers, but the sheer mass of evacuating people made that impossible. Quickly, he ran into a nearby alley, found a fire escape ladder, and started to climb. Once on the roof of the building the fire escape was attached to, Tyler ran to the northeast corner and looked out, panning, trying to find out what was going on.

Then, hovering just above the tourist structures of Fisherman's Wharf, Tyler saw it. Someone, or _something_ made completely of silver. Tyler's vision zoomed in on it. The 'it' turned out to be a 'her.' The sun high above reflected of her skin, if that was skin at all. Her complexion was a highly reflective chrome tint.

Whoever it was, she placed her palm straight out, and some type of projectile erupted from her hand, impaling into an F-Line streetcar. Luckily, no one in the streetcar was injured as they all managed to get out safely.

"She's gotta be the one Huen Fa was talking about," Tyler said. "Guess it's play time."

Tyler back pedaled about ten feet, took a couple quick breaths, then sprinted and leapt off the building. As he was in mid-air, he stuck his hands out to sides.

"It's go time!" he shouted.

Before he could free fall, he flipped head over heels, then transformed just as he landed on the street below, right into a mass of people who quickly made a circle of space around him, staring in awe, but all relieved that help had arrived. Before he could acknowledge anyone, he vaulted high into the air, then hovered right in front of the shiny girl.

"Yknow, pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be destroying stuff you don't own." his voice boomed as he hovered with his arms crossed and cape dancing in the sea breeze.

"Spare the talk Magna. I knew the cries of these insignificant animals would cause you to come. I am Lithium Flower and I will destroy you." she declared.

"I don't think I asked for your name, Precious." Tyler said, cocking his eyebrow.

Enraged, Lithium Flower twisted her body, then hurled herself towards Tyler, the nails on her fingers becoming elongated like a set of ten blades all vying to dismember him. There was a collective gasp from the people down below on the wharf.

Tyler's eyes went wide.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said that." he wondered aloud as she let forth a piercing battle cry.

* * *

**A Few Notes: I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I like listening to music when I write this stuff. Heck, I even made up a soundtrack that I listen to dedicated just for _Magna Man._ If you're interested, check out the website gendou . com (A site filled with nothing but seriously good music from a ton of Anime shows and it's free),sign up, then look up the music for Ghost In The Shell, Cowboy Bebop, and Samurai Champloo. And keep those reviews coming. Without them, this would be pointless...**

**Ooh Rah!**

**Reposted Since I Forgot To Add In The Nifty Divider Lines. My Bad...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Lithium Vs. Magna**

Tyler had just enough time to gasp, then put his arms up, catching her knife-like handsthat vied for his innards. The force of the connection between the two sent Tyler flying backwards, tumbling out of control, with Lithium along for the ride. As they spun wildy through the sky, just above the bay, Lithium Flower wrenched one of her hands free, retracted her nails, then made a fist. She reared up her free hand, then let forth a vicious blow, socking Tyler clean in the side of the jaw.

He winced in pain as solid metal impacted into his face, sending him flying right into the high tension wires of the Golden Gate Bridge–about two miles away.

"That was not cool," he growled to himself as he shot forth.

Anticipating his attack, Lithium's arms took on a new form–razor sharp katana swords.

"I think you could use a bit of a trim, Magna Man," she hissed as he rocketed forward.

"Oh great," he muttered, stopping just before he would be caught and sliced like bread.

Lithium swung her right sword tipped arm. Tyler contorted his body back, as she narrowly missed beheading him by a centimeter. She then swung her left arm, trimming off a few strands of his hair.

"Did I do that?" she asked in a mocking way, a devilish grin on her chrome featured face.

"Hey! Watch the hair!" Tyler barked, just as she put her foot to his face, then pushed off, getting free once again.

_How'm I gonna take her down? I can't hit a girl,_ he thought to himself.

"Come on Magna Man! Show me what you've got," Lithium enticed.

_Well, she asked for it,_ he thought as he stuck his had out, palm facing forward. An orb of glowing energy began to materialize and the air around him started to crackle.

"I don't know about you, but I like it hot," Tyler said with a smile in his tone.

A violent hell storm of super heated energy shot from his palm, enveloping Lithium Flower. The girl screamed as the radiant heat over took her. The sheer heat caused her to loose consciousness and fall from the sky. Before she could land in the water, Tyler swooped in, snagged her out of the air, then gently floated down to one of the piers below, into a crowd of onlookers.

The people made a large circle around the two as Tyler laid her onto the wooden surface. Once on the deck, Lithium Flower's chrome luster disappeared to reveal the real person inside.

"Magna Man? It's really you," one person said from the crowd. "Is she dead?"

"I don't know," Tyler quietly responded as he knelt beside her.

The once silver woman, was now a lovely blond with bronze tanned skin. Though there was only one girl he really liked, he had to admit that Lithium Flower was a sight to behold. Cautiously, he moved some of her blond locks away from her neck, then checked her pulse by placing a pair of gauntleted fingers on her neck.

"She's alive," he said, feeling her, albeit weak, heart beat.

"Maybe you should... you know... finish the job, Mag's," someone else from behind him suggested.

"He's right. You should have killed me when you had the chance!" Lithium Flower roared, her hazel eyes shooting open.

She snapped her hand up and latched on to his jugular, choking him. As she did so, her mettalic luster returned, covering her whole body. Scared onlookers backed away and watched in horror as the once placid girl awoke and had Magna Man in her clutches.

Like a rag doll, she flung Tyler into an emptied F-Line streetcar, knocking the historic tram off the tracks in a shower of sparks and shattered glass.

"Well... didn't see that one coming," he groaned as he tried to get up.

He then saw her come down, finger nail talons ready to puncture him like a pin cushion. Before she could get the chance, he back flipped out of the way. Lithium Flowers nails cut into the streetcar as if it was nothing more than aluminum foil. Nearby masses of people who were watching the action above them scattered as the watched the tram get torn to shreds. Before she could cause anymore damage, Tyler rose high into the air, using the sun to mask his appearance.

"You know, I've never hit a girl," he called out while high in the sky, "but you are seriously askin' for it!"

Tyler came down from his sunshine cloak and tackled Lithium Flower into the ground, leaving a wake of glittering sparks as her metal anatomy slid on the hard concrete.

"Don't you know, Magna Man? Chivalry is dead," she exclaimed as he tried his hardest to keep her pinned down.

"What can I say? I'm old fashioned," he retorted.

"To hell with that, little man," she hissed, "this is a new era."

Lithium Flower managed to get one of her legs free, place her foot squarely on his chest emblem, and push him off–right into a building, the force of the collision between man and steel, causing the windows of the structure to shatter and sprinkle the sidewalks below with razor shards.

"Come on Mags, you're gettin' your ass handed to you," Tyler heard some spectator yell out, followed by a few cheers, helping to motivate him.

Tyler dug his hands into the side of the building, then pushed off. Briefly, he took a look back, as if admiring his body imprint on the domicile.

"Alright, you want some? Them come get 'chu some!" Tyler roared as he stood defiantly.

Lithium Flower's toothy smile was riddled with evil. She lengthened her nails, then shot forward. Tyler noticed there was a car behind him, then got a crazy idea. He unsnapped his cape from his shoulders, then held it out, as if he was a matador, right in front of a parked car–where Lithium couldn't see it.

"_Toro_! _Toro_!" Tyler called out as Lithium gathered speed.

Just before she could strike him down, Tyler pulled his cape back. As if in one fluid motion, he stomped his boot into the bumper of the car, causing it to flip upwards. He then snapped his cape back on, spun around on his heel–safely moving his body out of the way–then gave Lithium a slight smack on her rear as she sped right by him.

Lithium Flower ran face first into the vertically positioned car. The resulting crash caused the auto to fall onto its roof, pinning her effectively and knocking her out.

Before she could awaked, Tyler lifted the car off her, scooped her up, placed her on the now exposed underside of the vehicle, then sandwiched her between the car by folding the auto like a slice of bread.

By now, hundreds of police, be it regular officers, SWAT, SERT, even the National Guard, took up positions, their weapons pointed not just at Lithium, but also at Tyler as well.

"You've beaten me," she weakly said as Lithium lay motionless, pinned tight by the car. "You have to finish the job."

"I'm not gonna kill a defenseless person." Tyler responded, then started to walk away.

"Then I will have to make myself not defenseless," she cried out.

Tyler heard the metal of the car whine, then shatter. He also heard every on looker, police and military as well, all yell "Magna! Look out!" Lithium bounded from the car, her talons ready to strike. Instinctively, Tyler spun around, held his palm out, and let loose a violent orange-yellow heat beam, swallowing the airborne Lithium Flower.

Through the heat, wind generated by the blast, he whispered just loud enough for him to hear, "I'm sorry."

After a moment, the beam fizzled out. There was no trace of Lithium, not a strand of hair or a shard of metal.

Nothing.

Still looking up in the sky where his beam was focused, he dropped his arm. The on lookers also looked up at the sky, then at him. The whole area erupted in cheers, applause, congratulations, everything. It was near pandemonium.

Tyler could only stay silent. It had been a long time since he had taken a life. Though he had to destroy her to protect the people, for some reason, he felt as if that was what she wanted. In fact, he swore he heard her say _thank you_ before she disappeared.

* * *

A few blocks down spin, Raven, Chelsea, Eddie, Chantel, and Jennifer, along with everyone else crowding on Hyde Street, watched the final confrontation. The troop had no idea where Tyler was, though Jennifer tried to explain that he must have gotten split up during the rush and it would be best for them to wait and him to find everyone. 

She, however, knew that it was him down there fighting with whoever that silver person was. And he came out the victor.

"Way to go, Tyler," she whispered to herself, smiling.

"What about Tyler?" Chelsea asked.

"Nothing, Chelly," Jennifer answered.

The whole crowd then cheered out "Magna" as he lifted off, high into the sky, then out of sight.

About a moment or so later, Jennifer saw Tyler come running through the crowd. "You guys! Hey!"

"My God! Tyler, did you see what happened down there? Where were you?" Raven asked as he walked up to meet them.

"Yeah. I guess through the craziness, I got separated. I tried to look for you guys down near the trolley barn, but no luck." he explained, a bold face lie however. "Are you guys all okay?"

The five nodded.

"Well, I really had a taste for a sundae. Guess that's outta the question now," Chantel groaned.

* * *

As they all started to walk off, Jennifer pulled Tyler off to the side. 

"Tyler? Are you okay?" she asked him quietly.

"I'm cool," he answered.

"I can tell when you're lying you know," she scoffed. "Now what's wrong."

He knew if he didn't just spill it, she'd pester him for the next week or so. Submitting, he sighed.

"I had to kill her, Jay."

"Oh. Well, Tyler, it was self-defense. It was either you and a bunch of people, or her."

He knew Jennifer was right but the fact that he had to take another life still burned through him. And he didn't like it one bit. He looked at his hands, and for some reason, began to mentally trace the lines in his palms. Lithium Flower's face then appeared in his mind. Not the metal version, but the vulnerable one. The girl–about the same age as him–with the sun kissed tone, blond hair, and sharp eyes that seemed to have a fire of determination flaring within.

Tyler looked up at Eddie and Chantel, walking hand in hand. He then looked at Raven and Chelsea, the two girls laughing and chatting, recalling the day's events, seeming as if all that mattered.

Innocence. Something Tyler wished he could truly have back.

Just then, he heard a voice in his head, like a whisper. It was Lithium Flower's voice.

"_I wanted to thank you for setting me free, Magna Man. You have shown me that it is possible to forgive, like you forgave me for trying to kill you. I'll never forget you, or the kindness you showed me, warming my heart and helping me to break out of my former shell._

"_I no longer have to be known as Lithium Flower. I can now use my real name, Sabrina."_

Tyler looked up into the sky, a slight grin stretching on his lips as he watched a few wispy cirrus clouds high up in the sky, float by.

"What's got you so happy now?" Jennifer asked him.

"Looks like I didn't take another life after all," Tyler said, still looking into the blue.

* * *

**A Couple Notes: Faded Writer, one of the reviewers who make this story possible, asked me what songs I listen to when I write this. (Music from the site gendou . com)**

**I can't really say exactly which ones, it really just depends on what i feel like hearing at the time. But I can jot down the ones I listen to the most:**

**Cowboy Bebop: Call Me Call Me, The Real Folk Blues, Gotta Knock A Little Harder**

**Ghost In the Shell SAC: Living Inside The Shell (Gets To Me Everytime), GET9, Lithium Flower (Coincidence? I Think Not...), I Can't Be Cool, Run Rabbit Junk, Rise**

**Samurai Champloo: Battlecry, Who's Theme (Get's To Me Too... Y'all Best Not Be Laughin! The Gunny's Sensitive Too!), San Francisco**

**Most of the time, I don't always listen to the words, usually just the acutal music. Plus, half of these songs are in Japanese and i haven't spoken that in a while...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Note: Once again... To all my reviewers, thank you so much. You all mean alot and make this possible. Ooh Rah!

* * *

**

**Chapter 13: All That Matters**

Tyler sat on top of the Transamerica Pyramid–it had became his favorite spot to just sit and think about things, be it life, him being Magna Man, or his favorite subject, Chelsea. His thoughts also went to Lithium Flower; Sabrina. She had put up one hell of a fight, testing his limits. Now, she was free to live her life as a normal person, and though he was content with it, being normal was something he could never be.

"It's worth it," he said to himself.

His thoughts then went to Chelsea. Since she had parted ways with Ben, she seemed to loose the spring in her step that she had. After being the catalyst for one of Jennifer's break ups, he knew they were tough to endure–he caught her flame messing around with someone and Tyler took matters into his own hands by beating the guy senseless. When Jennifer found out, she didn't speak to Tyler for a week, but once the truth was revealed, she and him had never been closer friend wise. She was like the sister he never had.

That was two years ago.

The sky started to change colors as the sun began its descent into the ocean. From his perch, Tyler could see the police as well as construction and maintenance crews busy at work from the events earlier down at the wharf. The destroyed streetcar had been hauled away hours ago and now, even traffic on Embarcadero was flowing, though slowly as most of the people were gazing at Lithium–Sabrina's–and his own handy work.

"Well, they were right in those tourist brochures. They do have some nice sunsets here," he said to himself as he pulled his mask up over his face, then lifted off, heading back home.

Once there, he checked the area, making sure no one was around, deactivated his powers, then landed, pretending to be an Olympic gymnast.

"Tens for me baby," he said to no one in particular.

The neighborhood was quiet, especially for a Saturday evening. Tyler decided to hitch up Kia and take her for a walk down to the field.

* * *

Chelsea chatted on the phone with both Raven and Jennifer in a three way conversation. From her bedroom window, she saw Tyler walk by with his dog. Quickly, she said her "goodbye" then hung up the phone, put her shoes on, the raced downstairs and out the front door. 

"Tyler! Hey!" she called out running up behind him.

"Chelse, what's up," Tyler called out with a smile.

"This your dog? She's beautiful," she cooed, kneeling down before Kia and scratching her behind the ear.

"Yeah. Beautiful," he murmured, actually referring to Chelsea.

Her reddish hair seemed to frame a perfect face, accentuating her brilliant smile. Kia sniffed at her a moment, then placed her head on Chelsea's shoulder.

"Oh she is so sweet," Chelsea purred.

_Lucky,_ Tyler thought, scowling at his dog, which instantly morphed back into a smile when Chelsea look in his direction. "Hey, we were gonna head to the field. You wanna come with?"

"Sure. That would be cool," she said, standing up.

The two walked chatting, Tyler saying something that would cause Chelsea to either smile or all out laugh, and vise versa. Once at the field, behind the school, Tyler grabbed a tennis ball, unhitched Kia from her leash, then tossed the ball, which Kia promptly chased after.

"Y'know Chelse, there's something I've been wondering. We go to Bayside High School, right? Well where's the bay? The school's no where near it."

"That is so right," she exclaimed. I've been wondering that for years."

"Yeah. Strange stuff, man, strange stuff."

After the two threw the tennis ball to Kia a few times, Tyler finally worked up just enough courage to say something.

"Um... I-I, er, never mind." he grumbled, wanting to say something special.

"What were you gonna say?" Chelsea asked as she tossed the ball once again.

"Nothing," Tyler quickly said.

_You nancy-assed pansy. Just say_ _you like her and get it over with,_ he mentally conversed with himself.

"You were going to say something," she retorted, then jabbed him in his side with her finger. "Spill it."

"Never!" he cried defiantly.

Tyler knew how to get out of a tight situation when his or someone else's life depended on it. In fact, he seemed to think better when pressured. However, whenever he was around Chelsea, all of that; his training, his skills, everything went out the window.

She continued to jab him with her finger with the intent to annoy him to the breaking point where he just couldn't take it anymore.

"I can keep this up all day, you know," Chelsea informed casually, gradually poking his rib harder.

"Like to see you try," Tyler acknowledged in a challenging tone.

A few seconds later, Tyler gave up. Not only was it getting on his nerves, but her fingernail was sharp and starting to leave an imprint in his side.

"Alright, alright." Tyler sighed once, took a deep breath, then said, "I like your hair. Red's my favorite color."

He turned his head, as if looking at a video camera, then cursed to himself wishing he could have really said what he was thinking.

"You held out... just to say you like my hair?" she asked sarcastically, then grinned. "I think you were trying to flirt with me."

"Me? N-no, I-I didn't–I mean–" Tyler stammered, but was abruptly cut off when Chelsea put Kia's leather leash over his shoulders, then pulled down, forcing his lower half to bend, bringing his eyes level with her own.

"I like your eyes. Green's my favorite color," she said smoothly, lifting an eyebrow showing interest.

Tyler could smell that she had recently sprayed some Kissy Fresh mint spray in her mouth.

"Well, I'll make it a note to sport more green, then," he whispered, their faces just a millimeter apart. "I actually had a dream that was kind of like this."

"Whoa. Were we at the park? 'Cause since we're at the park now, it would be like you could see the future or something," she quietly said.

Tyler could smell the aroma of strawberry gloss on her lips. Mixed with the mint of her breath, it was soothing, almost hypnotizing in a sense. Suddenly, he sensed something else. Something dangerous.

* * *

Though they were the only two people visible in the area, there was another presence. Both he and Chelsea were surrounded. 

"Look at the two love birds," a gruff voice laced with a thick New Jersey accent announced.

Quickly, Chelsea and Tyler stood erect and wide eyed. Kia sniffed the air, then growled. Just then, as if materializing from the shadows, twenty people, all adorned in black hooded sweatshirts, emerged as if from nowhere.

"Oh my God," she barely breathed, fear brewing within.

As reassuringly as he could, he said, "Don't worry, Chelse. We'll be just fine."

The advancing crowd laughed, then one person mocked, "He's gonna protect his lil' bitch, eh? Who's gonna protect you?"

Tyler recognized that voice for some reason. It was then, it hit him that these were the same bunch of thugs who Tyler took on when he first got his powers. But instead of five, there was four times as many.

"So," Tyler huffed, "you needed three months an twenty people just to take on a kid? Oh, bravo to you, big boy."

He could feel Chelsea tremble with fear. This was no place for her, and he'd go down fighting just to make sure she was okay. If he could transform, he could just fly her, Kia, and himself away, then deal with them. But he needed to keep that secret, even from Chelsea. _Guess I gotta do this the old school way,_ he thought.

"Tyler, please, I wanna get out of here," she began to sob, tears running down her cheeks.

"We'll get out of here, I promise. Just trust me," he whispered, then faced the gang leader. "I'll make you a deal, let her go, and you guys take me on."

"How about I say no, and add a fuck you to that." The gang leader scoffed, resulting in a laughing murmur from his followers.

"Well... then I guess there's only one way to finish this," Tyler growled. "Chelsea, I need you to one thing: get help."

The leader sneered, "get 'em, boys. Save the red head bitch, though. I want her to personally fix my twig and giggle berries."

"You guy's just never learn, don't you?" Tyler slyly grinned, then shouted, "Kia, get Chelse outta here, double quick!"

Kia barked, then attacked the nearest gang member, clamping her canines into his arms, before the other members could attack, Kia let go then ran off, Chelsea following close behind. Tyler had just enough time to make sure the two got far enough away before the gang turned to fight him. With angelic grace, Tyler snapped his leg high into the air, his foot impacting into the man's skull causing him to collapse in a crumpled heap.

Following though his kick, he planted, then spun around snapping his leg low to the ground, knocking down three more thugs by sweeping their legs out from under them.

"Gad damn it, boys! Kill that mother fucker, now!"

Two of the thugs pulled out weapons–9 millimeter pistols. Before they could aim and fire, Tyler wrenched the weapons from their hands, snapping the bones in ther fingers and wrists from the sheep force. He then bent the two pistols as if they were nothing more than softened plastic toys.

"You wanted to kill me? You've done a piss poor job so far," Tyler roared, waiting for his next attacker.

* * *

Chelsea and Kia ran to a safe distance. Chelsea then fumbled in her pockets for her cell phone. The fear she felt caused her hands to shake violently as she plucked it out. Due to the shaking, she dropped it onto the sidewalk, causing her to sob even more. 

Noticing that Chelsea was in terror, Kia wagged her tail, then with her snout, pushed the phone back to Chelsea.

"Good girl, Kia," Chelsea managed to say, still distraught.

She flipped the screen up and satisfied that she had enough battery power left, she punched in 9-1-1, then hit CALL. Off in the distance, she could hear fist and foot impact with flesh and muffled cries of pain.

"Please be okay, Tyler," she wished.

* * *

Two gang members leapfrogged over the others. Both moved their arms in lightning quick movents as they were highly skilled martial artists. Trying to intimidate him, the two fighters sliced at the air then high kicked multiple times in a synchronized manner. 

"Not bad." Tyler mused. "But now it's my turn."

Tyler went into a classic kung fu ready stance. He then began to hop and prance around, reminiscent of Bruce Lee. With his thumb, he quickly touched the tip of his tongue then swiped the bottom of his nose. Next he let out a high pitched "Whuaaa" cry that gradually became louder as he was ready for action.

The two thugs advanced, cartwheeling to him, then jumping and kicking as the same time. Tyler dodged left, then right, back flipped, and crouched down low, spreading his legs wide apart and avoiding a blow to the head. It was now his turn to go on the offensive and he snapped up, then side kicked one of the assailants causing the man to go flying.

The remaining kung fu fighter watched as his partner flew, then landed onto the track with a _whump._ Wildly, he went after Tyler, just trying to land a kick or hit. As he tried to scissor kick Tyler, Tyler grabbed one of his legs, then with ease, bent it at an odd angle, snapping the stiff bones like toothpicks. The last kung fu fighter roared in pain as he felt his bones splinter within.

The rest of the crowd decided to dogpile Tyler, thinking there was no way he could take them all on at once. Tyler let them. A few lucky punches managed to connect on his face and some of the thugs bit and clawed like animals. He felt a bit of blood trickle down his forehead.

Tyler was mad now.

Channeling his energy, he closed his eyes and focused. More clawing and biting ensued, but Tyler paied no mind to it. Once he felt ready, Tyler let out a loud cry, then exploded his body out. One unlucky thug who got caught in his grasp was thrown into a light tower pole, while a few others made acquaintances with a tree. The rest were all knocked out cold, or pretending to be. There was only one left: the leader, who stood there watching.

"H-hey kid, you know, I was only jokin' with ya," the leader stammered as he backed away. "I wasn't really gonna fuckin' kill you or the broad."

Tyler walked forward, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. "Didn't I say I was going to throw you clear to Alcatraz if you messed with me again?"

"Now-now-now... there's no need for–"

"I gave you a chance to run, and you opted to stay." Tyler growled, his voice nearly three tones lower than normal.

"Y-ya not gonna kill me, are you?" The leader asked, chuckling nervously.

Tyler could hear the wail of sirens. _Chelsea must have called the police. Good,_ he thought, then said. "No, I'm not."

Tyler then grabbed the man by the scruff of his shirt and lanced a clean punch to the leaders face, making him fall to the ground and stay there as he was knocked out cold. Tyler sat down on the thug, then sighed. Never had such emotions gotten the better of him. After a moment, Kia ran up to him and Tyler gave her a scratch on her back.

"Oh my... Tyler, you're hurt," Chelsea cried as she too ran up.

Tears flowed from her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Tyler. He felt warm and soft, yet at the same time hard as steel.

"I'm fine, Chelse. Are you okay?" Tyler quietly said, still wrapped in her arms.

"I'm okay." she whispered.

"Good," he responded. "That's all that matters to me. That you're okay."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Love Is Like Baseball...Cards, That Is...**

Both Chelsea and Tyler were taken downtown to the central police station for questioning, and mainly to try and decipher as to how a couple of sixteen year olds and a dog managed to survive an attack and come out standing without not so much as a small cut and a few bruises on Tyler. After fifteen minutes, Chelsea's parents bounded into the precinct and were relieved to find their daughter completely unharmed. Quickly, she was whisked off by her parent, but before she left, Chelsea discreetly tossed a crumpled piece of paper to him. He snagged it, opened it up and read:

_Tyler,_

_You saved me again and I really want to thank you. Jennifer told me where you live so when you get home, I want to drop off something just for you. I owe you my life again. Thank you._

_Love,_

_Chelsea_

Just as he finished reading, he looked up and took one last look at Chelsea as she was rushed through the doors by her parents, and his mom entered.

"Was she the girl you saved?" Eva asked as she took a seat beside Tyler.

He nodded.

"She's a looker. Nice catch," she mused.

"But I haven't caught her. At least I don't think I have," he replied.

"Trust me, you kicked a lot of ass and when a guy protects a girl, we like that. A lot," Eva explained.

"So are you saying I should try and fight everyone?" Tyler asked, somewhat confused.

"Of course not. I mean when you protect her from harm if something bad happens to come in the way."

Tyler nodded, understanding a little bit, but came to the conclusion that the opposite sex was like a tough puzzle. One that he was determined to figure out along the way. He knew enough to get by as a friend, but an advanced relationship was like uncharted space.

* * *

The ride home was uneventful and all was at peace in the Bay Area, much to Tyler's relief. It had been a trying day; first with Lithium Flower, then with the thugs. _I'm getting too old for this,_ he thought to himself as he leaned his head against the passenger window inside the car–a bright inferno red PT Cruiser. 

Once back home, Tyler went straight for his room and changed into a set of olive green fighter pilot coveralls. His room was much different from when he first moved in, as well. Draped on his walls were different posters of various aircraft. His favorite two posters–one, an autographed U.S. Navy Blue Angels image and the other an autographed 2001 Seattle Mariners poster–were place near his desk where his computer sat, displaying his screen saver that showed the exact locations of planes for certain airlines.

Also on his desk were things he saw as highly important, including his first picture of Eva's parent–his grandparents–Eva, and himself, a picture of Jennifer and himself, an baseball with Ken Griffey Jr's signature, and an 8 inch tall Wing Zero Gundam Mobile Suit robot model.

Off on the far wall, a long fifteen by four foot wooden plank sat on struts connected to the wall. On top of the plank was a painted replica of an airport, scaled way down. In a box under the plank were materials and tools to make small airport buildings. Next to that box, there was another that contained dozens of 1:500 scale models of airliners that his grandpa bought for him when he turned ten. Both he and his grandpa would play for hours, taking the planes off, landing then, and taxiing them along the pained pathways. Once in a while, his grandma would act as a stewardess, performing the preflights or she would act as traffic control. Since Eva's profession–an interior decorator–required her to travel frequently, he stayed with his grandparents often, though they lived three hours south of Seattle in Portland, Oregon.

A gentle knock on the door that led outside jarred him from his memory. He remembered that Chelsea's note said she was going to stop by. Tyler opened the door, and sure enough, there was Chelsea, with her hair tied back into a ponytail, except for a handful of strands that curled around her face.

Though she was in her pajama's–a pair of baggy flannel pants, a small vintage tee shirt, and a pair of flip flops–Tyler still thought she was the most beautiful thing. More beautiful than a Mariners game at Safeco Field or a new motorcycle.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

Tyler jaw dropped. "Absolutely."

Chelsea stepped inside and took in the sight of Tyler's residence. "You really like planes, huh?"

"Uh... yeah. "I've wanted to be a pilot for a while." Tyler said, still shocked that Chelsea was standing there in his room.

He noticed she was carrying something in her hand.

"Hey, I wan to give you this kinda as a thank you. Plus, Jen told me your birthday was next Saturday so–I guess this is a little early, but Happy Birthday." Chelsea said as she handed him the box.

Tyler opened the parcel and found a unique baseball card. It was a hand painted card of himself.

"Chelse, this is amazing," he gushed over his very own baseball card. "You made this?"

She nodded, then looked down at the navy blue carpeted floor. "There's one more thing I want to give you."

"Oh I couldn't accept anything else–" Tyler said, still checking out the card.

Before he could finish his statement, Chelsea put her arms around his neck, pulled him down so their faces were level, stared him dead in the eye where she could see her reflection in his pupil and vise versa–

–Then, she planted her soft lips upon his own.

While she shut her eyes, Tyler's shot wide open. A flood of thoughts that he couldn't even attempt to comprehend raced through his mind as if his brain was a beehive of information. Soon, his mind became at ease and only one thing mattered–how much he really cared for Chelsea. As if under the influence of a foreign substance, his eyes started to roll back into his head, then gradually close as he savored the moment–a moment that only lasted for about 30 or so seconds.

The best thirty seconds in history, at least in Tyler's perspective.

When the kiss was over and Chelsea withdrew, Tyler fell forward onto the floor before Chelsea's feet, weak–in a good way, and still caught in the moment.

"Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down before him.

Tyler was in shock. It was his first kiss and he couldn't have asked for it from a better person if he could find one. He managed to roll onto his back, then looked up at Chelsea.

"Am I dead? Cause I think an angel's staring me in my face," he whispered as he looked up at her.

"Wow. I didn't know my kisses could cause someone to collapse," Chelsea chuckled. "And you think I'm an angel? You are too kind."

Tyler opened his mouth, but no words would come out. _I wonder if anyone else became a veggie from just one kiss, albeit one from the hottest looking girl ever, _he thought to himself, before his pondering was interrupted by the sound of rain hitting the house and everything else outside.

"Oh great," Chelsea groaned as she got up, opened the door leading outside, only to find the outside was completely drenched as it was pouring.

Tyler shook off his stupor and managed to get up. "Uh, if you want you can chill here 'till the rain lets up," he offered.

Chelsea turned around, some of the spray from outdoors causing her hair to cling to her face.

"Y'know, we could watch some t.v or play some video games or have a dance off, even though I can't dance," Tyler added in. "Or we could watch a movie or take a nice lil' nappy nap," he rambled due to his nervousness.

"Yeah. I guess I can stay for a while." Chelsea quietly said, shutting the door.

* * *

After a couple hours of playing Halo 2, they watched some television. Soon, Chelsea drowsily placed her head on Tyler's shoulder and began to doze off. As not to wake her, he very carefully put his arm around her and moved some of her har from her face. Next, he slowly grabbed the DVD player remote, hit play, and watched his favorite Japanese anime movie, _Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door._

Chelsea adjusted herself, snuggled closer, then began to snore quietly.

"And great, she's a snorer," Tyler quietly muttered as he watched the movie. "Well'p, sleep tight, Chelse."

Soon, he too fell asleep. It had been one hell of a day, but he couldn't have asked for a better way to finish it off. Before he slept, he thought of how things were going to be now that he and Chelsea were possibly moving to the next level. He decided to take it as it came and not try to process what was going on.

And maybe next time, he'd kiss Chelsea instead of her making the first move.

* * *

Tyler's eyes fluttered open. The only light in the room was that given off from the t.v., and still nestled beside him was Chelsea, resting peacefully. It was quiet, meaning the rain had stopped, though Tyler wished it wouldn't. On the DVD player's clock, it read 5:27AM. 

Chelsea began to muster, moan, then stretch, waking up.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"Mmm, hey, good morning," she grogily said. "What time is it?"

"About five-thirty. We should get you back home.

With that, the two put their shoes on and walked up the hill to Chelsea's house. Once there, they noticed the kitchen light was on.

"Oh man," she groaned. "How am I gonna explain this?"

Tyler thought for a moment, then looked up. "That's your room up there, right?"

Chelsea nodded.

On the edge of the sidewalk was a large oak tree with branches that reached close enough to her bedroom window. Tyler had came up with a plan at that moment.

"Chelse? Is your bedroom window open?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah."

"Good, get on my back."

Chelsea cocked her eyebrow, but surrendered, then climbed onto his back, arms around his neck and legs around his torso. Tyler noticed a strange feeling on his shoulder blades as if two blunt, yet soft objects were poking him he knew her breasts were touching him, and amazingly enough he was holding his primal urges in check, but these were like two smaller nubs at the tips of–

"Are you cold? 'Cause..uh..." Tyler stammered.

Chelsea's face flushed bright red. "My God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for them to... y-you know. But yeah, I'm a little cold."

_And a little warm at the same time,_ she thought.

Tyler smiled, "Don't worry about it. It's no problem. Let's get you back to bed so... certain things go back to their normal feeling."

Tyler examined the tree briefly, then found a good footing, and started to climb. Once level with her bedroom window, he tested the integrity of the branch that reached out to her window.

"Uh, Tyler? What if we fall?" she cautiously asked.

"We won't." Tyler said in a low, leathery tone.

Quickly, Tyler skimmed over the branch with the leaves not so much as slightly swaying. Within a matter of seconds, Tyler reached the window, opened it up and walked inside, Chelsea still latched onto him.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" she asked in amazement as she got off his back.

"Uh... I have acrobats in my bloodline," Tyler explained. "I'd better fly, but before I do, there's something I gotta do."

Tyler placed his hand on her face, cupping her cheek and jaw line. Chelsea leaned her head, hen looked up into his face and smile. Through the dark, her eyes seemed to sparkle like a pair of stars in the deep of outer space. Like a 17th century sailor, he followed her eyes as if guiding him into her, then gave her a soft kiss on her lips. Though Tyler controlled his trembling, Chelsea didn't as she became weak in her knees. Before she could collapse–like Tyler did–he finished the kiss, took one last look at her, then jumped outside, landing on the tree, which he quickly descended from.

"Good night, Tyler," she sighed, a large smile on her face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Note: I'm Thinking About Changing The Rating For This. And Sorry For The Delay...

* * *

**

**Chapter 15: Lonestar**

"Don't you know playing in traffic is dangerous?" Tyler sarcastically asked as he swooped down onto the upper deck of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't _the_ Magna Man," the single assailant mocked, a deep Texan drawl in his speech. "Allow me to introduce myself. The moniker's Lonestar."

"Let me guess... you're gonna tell me to not mess with Texas, huh?" Tyler questioned.

"Damn skippy, boy," Lonestar growled.

Tyler got into a ready position. He had to get this guy off the bridge, not to mention hurry up since he was in the middle of his lunch period.

Lonestar had the look of a desert desperado as he was sporting a large, jet black cowboy hat and a slate gray cloak. On his boots were two shiny spurs that looked as if they could slice through solid steel. Attached to his sides were a pair of chrome plated pearl handled pistols.

"Listen, pilgrim, I'm on a tight schedule so if we could speed this along, that would be great," Tyler requested. "So if you're looking for one of those Bonanza stand off's, you're out of luck."

"Well then come on, fluffy. Let's tangle!" Lonestar roared as he pulled out his guns, aimed and fired.

Tyler back flipped, went into a crouch, then though about returning fire, but there were hundreds of auto's behind Lonestar that could be caught in the fire. Another hail of bullets ripped past Tyler, qho casually danced and juked out of the way.

"That all you got, cowboy?" Tyler jived.

"Hardly," Lonestar noted as he pulled two super sized throwing spurs, reared up, then let them fly.

Tyler traced them in the sky as they arced gracefully, then spun as if they were the blades of rotary saws. _Oh great. Why do I always attract people who have a fixation with sharp objects,_ he wondered to himself as he jumped, went into a series of corkscrew flips parallel with the deck of the bridge, then landed just as the spurs narrowly missed his body.

Instead of maintaining their trajectory, the two spurs arced, then came back, vying for Tyler's blood. Instead of staying on the bridge, Tyler lifted off, hoping the spurs would follow.

They did, homing in on him rapidly.

Once he was a good height above the towering suspension bridge, Tyler descended, his back to the surface and arms pointing upwards towards the sky. He pointed his index fingers and waited for as long as he could–about a half second–then fired on the spurs. The explosion brightened the mid day sky ten fold, then dissipated. Cheers from those stranded on the bridge erupted.

As Tyler kept descending, he unsnapped his cape, coiled it tightly, then snapped it out like a whip, around Lonestar's leg, snagging it and bringing the cowboy off the bridge effectively. Before the two could hit the water, Tyler managed to land a glancing punch clean on Lonestar's face, sending him flying into the financial district, Tyler close on his heels.

The two combatants hurled themselves headlong, right into the Embarcadero Street Mass Transit station. Unsuspecting commuters scrambled out of the way as both Lonestar and Tyler–Magna man–tumbled down one of the escalators to the Bay Area Rapid Transit line underneath the city. People disembarking from the automated trains dove back into the cars, or simply out of the way as the two aggressors punched, kicked, dodged and juked on the marble tiled platform.

From behind his back, Lonestar pulled out a lasso, twirled it over his head, then threw the looped end at Tyler, tying him up.

"That all you got country boy?" Tyler mocked as he grabbed the rope with his gauntleted hands.

Before he could react, Lonestar jerked the line, causing Tyler to lose his balance and crash down onto the electrified BART Train tracks. A surge of electricity raced through his body, but also traced the rope that had him tied up.

"I've always wanted to check out the Transbay Tube," Tyler joked. "Let's have a close up look!"

Tyler yanked hard on the rope, forcing Lonestar into a wall. Next, Tyler hovered above the train tracks, then rocketed into the dark, three and a half mile, tube, heading eastbound to Oakland. Like a toy, Lonestar bounced and ricocheted off the walls of the submerged tunnel

"Havin' fun back there, big boy? "Cause I sure am," Tyler laughed. "Uh oh, train up ahead."

Sure enough, a Richmond–Red Line–train was up ahead. Tyler, who was gingerly flying at about 170 miles per hour, flew above the commuter line with ease. Lonestar, on the other hand bounced on the roof of the five car train. Tyler chuckled at the grunts of pain as he continued to drag Lonestar through the tunnel.

"Don't star nothin', won't be nothin," Tyler mused.

Soon, they emerged at the West Oakland Station. Tyler flew up and outside, his eyes quickly adjusting to the daylight after spending a few minutes in the dark of the Transbay Tube.

"Well, it's been fun, but I'm missing my lunch with a hot girl and I'd much rather be chillin' with her."

Tyler loosened the noose around his body, yanked it, forcing Lonestar into his grasp, then spun like a top in a gut wrenching rate. Finally, Tyler let go of his challenger, watching the cowboy fly high into the sky.

"Y'all don't come back now, y'hear?" Tyler mocked and he put his hands together, created a glowing orb of superheated plasma energy within his palms, then fired, engulfing Lonestar.

* * *

For the better part of the past couple weeks, Chelsea had been floating on could nine, especially after Saturday. Since that day, Raven noticed Chelsea had a glow about her whenever she and Tyler were together. At that moment, she started to think of her first boyfriend that she actually _loved_, Devon Carter, who coincidentally was in Seattle. It had been over a year since they split. But he was still on her mind, even with the influx of other guys she had her eye on, especially her most recent beau, Andre–which she colloquially called "Mister Perfect." 

Her thoughts then went to Chelsea's own "Mister Perfect," and what she saw back when they first met. She had seen Chelsea get hurt by guys who either hid something or flat out lied and though Raven knew Tyler was a good person, he was hiding something. A very big something. Just then, Tyler rounded the corner.

"Hey, Tyler. We need to have a talk," Raven insisted.

"Now? I, uh... had to work on a project, and I haven't had anything to eat yet," Tyler tried to explain.

"Oh? Well too bad, you'll survive. And this is important." Raven noted, then whispered, "Really important. About my visions."

Accepting the fact that he was going to miss out on lunch he sighed. "Okay then, fire away." Tyler then thought to himself, "thanks a lot, Lonestar. Jerk."

"Okay, I know you're different and all, Tyler. And that's cool, but..." Raven began.

"You want to know more about me. The _real_ me, huh?" Tyler interrupted.

Raven nodded.

"Alright then. Get comfy because it's a long story. And it's gonna sound kinda far fetched, but it's all true."

Tyler told her about everything, from how he came to be, what he endured, and his escape. He omitted the portion of him being Magna Man. The only other person who knew was Jennifer, and that was because she was with him at the time it happened.

Raven's eyes went wide as she listened to his words. If anyone else were telling her this, she would have sworn they got it from a movie or something, but this was all true.

"So... are you still a person?" she nervously asked. "You're not, like a robot or alien or something, right."

Tyler chuckled, "Yeah, I'm definitely human. I'm just an augmented one."

"So exactly what can you do?"

"Oh, basic stuff, y'know. Bench press a car, run a mile in two minutes flat, hold my own in a fight if I'm drastically outnumbered."

"Kinda arrogant, ain't ya?" Raven smugly inquired, then remembered, "So that's how you fought all those guys and rescued Chelsea. You're like Clark Kent from Smallville."

"Sorta kinda. But unlike that guy, I actually look like a teenager, just tall. And I can't shoot heat beams from my eyes." _I shoot them from my hands, instead,_ he thought with a grin. "Anything else you wanna know?"

Raven shook her head.

"Well, if you need to know something else, just come find me. I'm gonna go find Chelse before class starts."

Raven didn't say anything as Tyler walked off. There wasn't really anything she could say, though she still had questions for him. She came to the conclusion that she'd ask them later. At that second, her gazed went off into space and her eyes shot wide open.

An incoming vision.

In her vision, all she saw was students running and screaming. The thing that chilled her to the bone, however, was the sound of a gunshot somewhere in the school.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped, then ran to find one of her friends to fill them in.

* * *

Tyler found Chelsea and Jennifer walking down the hallway. The bell indicating lunch was over blared and quickly, the halls were filled with students grabbing their stuff for their afternoon classes. 

"Chelse, Jay, what's up?" Tyler greeted.

Before they could say anything, Tyler saw Ben approach from behind the two girls. From the look on Tyler's face, Jennifer could tell something wasn't quite right. Inconspicuously, she tuned her head and out of the corner of her eye, she too saw Ben.

"Chelly? Ben's behind us," she whispered.

Instead of acknowledging the girls, Ben stormed right past them towards Tyler.

"Ben, it's been a while, man," Tyler said with a smile, opting to take the high road.

"Spare the shit, McGinnis." Ben growled. "If it wasn't for you, I'd still be with Chelsea. It's your fuc–"

"Now wait just a minute," Tyler interjected. "Don't try and put the blame on me just because you let her get away on your own, pal."

"Bullshit!" he yelled, catching the attention of everyone else in the hallway. "Before you came along, things were just fine. But you know what? I don't even give a damn anymore."

Tyler stood his ground defiantly. "Then what's this all about, man?"

A grin cracked Ben's features. "What's it about? It's about... principle"–he then chuckled "–the principle that if I can't have her, then you sure as hell can't."

Within the blink of an eye, Ben reached under his shirt and pulled out a black 9 millimeter pistol, aiming it right at Tyler's chest. Students who saw the gun panicked and left the scene. Raven skidded around the corner and quickly came to a halt beside Chelsea and Jennifer as she saw Ben gripping the weapon. He spun around and aimed the gun at the three, who instinctively ducked and screamed as there was no where to run.

"Ben! Leave them out of this. This is between you and me," Tyler pleaded.

"No! That bitch Raven was in it as well!"

Tyler saw the fear in all three of the girls eyes, each glazed over. "Ben, this isn't worth it. You don't have to do this."

"Yeah, I do have too." Ben said emotionlessly.

Ben spun back around and pointed the gun at Tyler once again. _Good,_ Tyler thought, _I have a better chance to survive than them if he decides to shoot._ Though he had been shot–a long time ago–he didn't really want to feel it again. And the last time he was shot, it was from a distance. Ben was at point blank range.

From the corner of his eye, Tyler saw some people emerge from another corner and immediately come to a stop. It was Eddie, along with the Principal, Mr. Lawler, the Vice-Principal, Mrs. Cereghino, and another teacher who he didn't recognize. The three staff members ordered Ben to drop the gun as they stood a safe distance away. The sound of emergency vehicle sirens became audible and the flash of red and blue strobe lights could be seen. Though the others couldn't hear it, Tyler could hear snipers and the other officers take up positions, as well as the chatter over their radios.

"Ben, this is getting way out of hand. All you have to do is put the gun down and we can all go home," Tyler said as calmly as he could muster.

"No, we won't all be going home, Tyler. I'm a kid with a gun and that's grounds for jail time. At least now, I'll have a legit reason." Ben noted.

Things seemed to move in slow motion as Tyler saw him cock the gun, then start to squeeze the trigger. With the lockers to his back, he had nowhere to run. He could see the others mouths open as if yelling, but he couldn't hear their voices. Tyler also noticed Eddie, Mr. Lawler, and the other teacher start to advance on Ben before he could fire.

They were too late.

Tyler heard a loud clap of thunder–the gun–and felt a bullet impale through his chest and lodge in his heart. Another bullet pinged off his rib and made a home in his left lung. The force of the shots caused Tyler to slam into the lockers, then collapse onto the linoleum floor. Tyler's shirt became drenched with blood as he lay there, though he was still conscious. Barely.

The principal, teacher, and Eddie, tackled Ben to the ground, then wrestled the gun away. A swarm of police officers entered into the school. Tyler saw one of them mouth the words "oh my God" as the saw Tyler laying in a crumpled heap.

Chelsea ran over to Tyler, knelt down beside him, and put her arms around his neck and head. Tears flowed from her eyes after what she witnessed.

"Chelse?" he quietly whispered, "Ch-chelse? Please don't... don't cry."

She couldn't bring herself to say anything. All she could do was lean down, her cheek pressed against his own. Some of her hair draped into Tyler's face. To him, it had a citrus-like refreshing smell that he never wanted to forget. Just for that, he knew he had to pull through. If only to see her smile one more time, he would fight and win.

"Remember, Chelsea," he finally whispered into her ear, "All that matters... to me... is that you're okay."

Tyler then closed his eyes and blacked out, still in Chelsea's arms.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Dream Walk**

Slowly, Tyler opened his eyes, then compensated his vision to adjust to the blinding sunlight that filled them. Instantly, he could tell he was outside. Where, though, was the question.

"Oh man, don't tell me I followed the light and died," he groaned to himself, getting up off the ground and brushing the sand and dust off himself.

The air was hot and with the wind, it felt as if he was standing behind the exhaust duct of a jet engine. Off in the distance, he could see a range of rolling mahogany colored rock formations. A lone highway cut through the expanse of tan colored desert. To him, it was frustratingly familiar territory, but at the same time, different.

"That's Route Sixty-Six," he thought aloud.

Tyler stood at the spot where nearly a decade ago, he learned what love was when Eva first found him. Back then, however, he didn't have a chance to really take in the scenery. Though it was barren, it still had a beauty that was unmistakable. Also, Tyler had a big interest in the desert southwest since it was tied in with a lot of Black Ops in the military, such as experimental vehicles and maybe even UFO's.

"Well, it's been a while since I've seen anyone in these parts," a man's voice said.

Tyler turned to his left and as if appearing from nowhere, a small oasis with a patch of the greenest grass he had ever seen, an old, rustic looking park bench, and an elderly gentleman who wore a brown hat, brown jacket, brown slacks, and brown shoes that sparkled in the sun.

"Well don't be scared, son. Pop a squat," the man said.

His dark sunglasses were focused on the horizon straight ahead and a smile of perfect white teeth made a drastic contrast to his complexion which was a shade darker than Tyler's. Cautiously, Tyler walked over to the bench and took a seat next to the man. The ambient temperature felt much cooler once he entered the small, grassy plot.

"You're probably wondering where you are, son," the man said.

Tyler nodded.

"Well, kid, you're not really alive, but you're not dead. You're in between."

"Well how do I get back to the living side of the spectrum?" Tyler asked.

"Oh," the man scoffed, "you'll recover in no time at all. I just wanted a little company. It gets kinda lonely out in the desert."

"Well that's good, at least." Tyler sighed, relieved that he would be able to see Chelsea again. "So who are you? Morgan Freeman? 'Cause you look exactly like the man."

The old man laughed. "I haven't heard that one, kid. And for a man who's a millennia old, I think I look a lot better than Morgan Freeman. But listen kid, I know you're Magna man and I know about your past. You'll pull through in about a minute or so."

Tyler grinned, "Good. I sorta made a promise to–"

"That Chelsea girl, right? She's with you right now."

The old man chuckled one more time, then snapped his fingers, causing everything to disappear.

* * *

Though his eye lids were closed, in digitalized neon green lettering, the words "REBOOT INITIATING" followed by "STAND BY" scrolled across his eyes. A sharp pain lanced through his body as he felt himself start to recover. Though he hurt, he knew that he was still alive if he was feeling anything, and pain was something. Slowly, his eyes began to flutter, then crack open. For a moment, his vision was a mass of zeros and ones–computer binary code. Next, the code vanished, then was replaced by a snowy static, then at last, went to normal. 

Tyler noticed he was in a dimly lit room. Still laying on his back, he opened his eyes a little wider, and noticed there was someone holding his hand. With the little amount of energy he had left, he struggled, then sat up carefully.

"Chelsea?" he whispered. "Hmm, the guy was right."

Tyler heard her snoring softly and she rested her head on his hand. With his free palm, he gently shook her to wake her up. She let out a soft moan that was like the coo of a dove, then began to muster.

"Hey? Don't you know visiting hours are over?" Tyler joked in a weak whisper.

Chelsea sat up drowsily. Her eyes then shot open as she saw a somewhat cheerful looking Tyler staring her in the face. She couldn't contain her joy as she put her arms around him, wrapping him up in a tight hug. Lances of pain shot through Tyler, but could live through it.

"How long was I out?" he quietly asked.

Chelsea sniffled, "A-about ten hours. You were dead and I-I thought I lost you and–"

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm still here. Don't cry," Tyler quietly said.

A small knock at the doorway to Tyler's hospital room jarred the mood of the moment. Standing there were Eddie, Jennifer, and Raven.

"What's up guys?" Tyler nonchalantly greeted.

Raven turned to someone just out of sight, said a few words, then more people began to mass around the door all holding balloons and cards with encouraging messages. After about an hour of chatting with them, almost everyone left, except for Chelsea. Before Jennifer departed with her parents, she informed Tyler that his mom went to the airport to pick up his grandparents after much hesitation.

"Chelse? It's getting pretty late," Tyler explained.

Reluctantly, Chelsea released her grasp of his hand and left with her parents, who graciously thanked him for watching over their daughter. Now, his room was empty and silent, except for the monitors that read out his vital signs. Now alone, he sat there and thought about what happened; a mental analysis of the events that lead him up to here. He knew his physiology assisted him in recovering, but there was no way he could have came around so quickly, even with his augmentation.

"Must've been will," he thought aloud, then began to drift off, lost in thought.

* * *

Chelsea and Tyler soared, hand in hand, high above the clouds in the night sky. Above them, thousands of stars sparkled, as if a choreographed dance in the black-blue expanse. Before them, a full moon sat, shining like a beacon. Just beneath the moon, a glowing golden object–the planet Venus–hung, suspended like a jewel. 

"That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Chelsea gasped.

"I can think of something–well someone, that can top this," he grinned, looking back at her, his mask down around his neck.

Tyler then reached his gloved hand out and pulled the glowing jewel-like planet away from the moon. Next, he took a handful of stars, closed his palm, then opened it, revealing a twinkling necklace made up of celestial heavenly bodies.

"Okay Chelse. I'm gonna let you go and you're gonna float in the air, just like I can. Ready?"

She closed her eyes and Tyler her hand let go. Slowly, she reopened them and found herself hovering above the clouds.

"This is... this is amazing," she cried.

"So are you," Tyler quietly said, then presented the star fabricated necklace to her. "Here. A present, courtesy of your neighborhood friendly Magna Man."

Tyler slipped the necklace around her neck. As he did so, he noticed her shiver slightly.

"It gets kinda cold high in the sky. Here, take my cape." Tyler unsnapped his cape from his shoulders, then wrapped it around Chelsea. "That better?"

"Much, thank you," she obliged.

"Cool, now here comes the fun part," Tyler noted as he took her hand. "Hang on to your hat."

"But I don't have a–"

"Hat!" Chelsea screamed as Tyler took her by the hand, then the two dove straight down, through the clouds, causing the swirl and roil from their speed and rate of descent.

"Yee haw!" Tyler screamed with a large smile and eyes burning with determination.

Chelsea erupted with laughter and joy, feeling like a little kid all over again as Tyler took her for the ride of a lifetime. Soon, the two were over the dark ocean. Quickly, the two leveled off, keeping a near sound breaking speed just above the water. Their velocity caused the liquid beneath them to split and spray away from them.

"Check this out," Tyler called out.

He swing body so he was standing straight up, nest, he lowered slightly and started to run on the surface of the water, Chelsea still holding his hand and gliding.

"Woo hoo!" Chelsea shouted and laughed, filled with jubilation. "Run, Tyler, run!"

Tyler laughed as well, then leapt off the water, causing them to rise higher and higher into the night sky, the moon guiding them and reflecting off the expansive body below them. Throughout the whole flight, both Tyler and Chelsea could hear the song _This Could Be Heaven_ by Seal. Tyler knew it by heart since mom constantly listened to anything by Seal.

Once the pair were back above the clouds, they began to descend on one particular cloud. Though he wasn't, Chelsea was shocked to find that the puffy cloud had a flat, solid surface. Then, like a spotlight, the light from the moon focused itself on the two of them as the music still played.

"Can I have this dance?" Tyler asked.

"You may," Chelsea replied, wrapping her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist.

As the two slow danced in the moonlight on their very own cloud, Chelsea placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, taking in the moment. Between their bodies, the star woven necklace shimmered, giving off a warm, soothing radiance. The iridescent light blue and gold light seemed to accentuate Chelsea's facial features.

_This has got to be heaven,_ he thought as he danced with the girl of his dreams. _This must be heaven._


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Seventeen**

After spending the night in the hospital, having another majestic dream about a special someone, and thinking a lot about life, as well as his absence from being Magna man, he was finally cleared to leave on Friday afternoon, just in time for his birthday the next day; Saturday, May 21st. He didn't have anything special planned since Eva had to go back on her business trip and his grandparents were slated to leave as well, though they were reluctant to. For the time being, he decided that Magna Man needed a hiatus, unless some other supernatural being or dire situation was to occur. The authorities could handle stuff without him.

Hours passed by as he channel surfed for the better part of the afternoon into the early evening.

"A hundred and eighty-something channels and nothing on," he muttered to himself.

As he sat on his couch, he remembered his dream with he and Chelsea flying around through the night.

"Note to self: shrink Venus and a bunch of stars down to the size of pearls," he joked to himself. "Another note: stop talking to yourself, Tyler. It's kinda weird."

More hours passed as he became entranced with a horrible Sci-Fi Channel movie, and soon it was already dark outside. He wished that midnight would hurry up and come so he could open his birthday presents. Eva and his grandparents made him promise that he would wait.

"Well, it's midnight somewhere in the world," he concluded. "Come on, Kia, let's see what Tyler got."

Tyler and his dog bolted up stairs into the kitchen, and sitting on the table were four packages wrapped in decorative paper. He grabbed one large rectangular gift and sized it up–then ravaged the paper, shards flying everywhere. Inside the parcel were two jackets: one a dark brown leather James Dean style jacket, the other a long, bright yellow Gortex rain coat with reflective lining.

"What am I gonna do with two jackets? It's almost sum–" he thought aloud, but was cut off by a knock at the front door.

Tyler walked through the living room and opened the door, only to find Jennifer with a large smile on her face, fidgeting with near-uncontrollable excitement.

"What's got you so giddy?" he asked. "You got a man now? 'Cause if so, that might be something you wanna tell Chelse or Rae."

"Thats not it–well, I do got a guy friend with benefits now, but this is way better that I just couldn't wait to show you anymore." Jennifer screeched. "Come on! It's at my house!"

"Okay, what you and your homey do is something I don't really wanna know," Tyler groaned, grabbing his house key and shutting the door behind him.

"Tyler! You got a motorcycle! And me and Ari have been going at it like rabbits fresh out of prison," She called out.

Tyler cringed. Jennifer was like a surrogate sister and the last thing he needed to hear was about her... escapades. "Jay, that is faul–wait... d-did you say I have a motorcycle?"

"Oh yes," she purred as she opened her garage door.

There were only a few things that could cause Tyler to stand in awe, completely stupefied; Chelsea being one, and the sparkling brand new black and white BMW R1150 RT-P bike. There was also another motorcycle of the same make and model, though it was painted white and green, the way German autobahn police motorcycles were.

"My parents got me one for my birthday, too," she explained. "Now we can go on road trips and stuff."

"Ooh! We could be like John and Ponch from that show _Chip's_. Since I'm dark and handsome, I'll be Ponch," Tyler joked, then gave out a large, cheesing toothy grin, reminiscent of Erik Estrada, the actor who played Ponch. "You can be the blonde guy who no one really remembers."

"Who would that be?" she asked, irritated.

"My point exactly... no one remembers."

The two admired their new sources of transportation. Since Chelsea's favorite color was green, Tyler knew she'd like Jennifer's bike. It was then he realized there was one small problem: the bikes were one seaters, with the spot where the second seat went, there was a top case for storage. He came to the conclusion that it was probably best that he didn't take Chelsea for a ride in the event that he crashed. He didn't want her to get hurt.

"Wait a minute... who's Ari?"

* * *

Tyler walked his brand new motorcycle across the street and right into the portion of his room that still resembled a garage, as the floor was made of concrete and a large, red metal Snap-On tool chest sat, pressed against a wall that his grandpa gave him a while back. 

"I can't believe I have a motor now," he gushed to himself, staring at his birthday gift.

Tyler briefly ran upstairs, grabbed his last two presents that he hadn't opened, then went back to his room. Before he could open another present, there was another knock, this time, at his door. _Jay must've forgot something. And who the hell is this Ari guy? _He thought as he got up and opened his door.

Tyler opened his door–and found Chelsea.

"I just wanted to say that... I think–I think I love you." Chelsea nervously said, smiled, then pulled his head down to their lips were level with each other. "I love you, Tyler. A lot."

Before he could answer, the lovely essence that Tyler associated with Chelsea–the scent of Kissy Fresh mint, strawberry lip gloss, and citrus-smelling shampoo–overtook his senses. This time, however, he didn't allow himself to over think the situation. Instead, he let his primal instincts take control, though they had been suppressed and held in check for a long time.

Their lips connected with a force that caused Tyler to step backwards and Chelsea to step forward, kicking the door shut as they made out passionately. Not paying attention to his surroundings, Tyler tripped on the back of his couch and fell onto the cushions, bring Chelsea down with him and abruptly breaking off their kiss for the moment. The two laughed over his clumsiness as Chelsea lay on top of him.

"I have got to work on my cool 'cause falling whenever we kiss is not helping my stature," Tyler joked. "But this position isn't bad."

"Well, how about I lose my jacket and make it a lil' more interesting," Chelsea offered seductively. "But you have to close your eyes."

"Yes, yes. Yes! I-I mean, if you want," he said, trying to keep his composure–sort of.

Tyler closed his eyes. In neon digital lettering, the statement "SEXUAL DRIVE INITIATED... PHEROMONE OUTPUT INCREASE; BLOOD FLOW: RISING... STAND BY..." pulsed within his closed eyelids. It was the first time he had ever seen such a message pop up on his internal heads-up display. In fact, he had just recently been getting worded status check tickers scrolling across his eyes, coming to the conclusion that he was at the age where he was still developing, like most teens his age. Unlike any other, however, he received encrypted text messages that actually informed him instead of having no intel at all.

Though his eyes were shut, the ambient light in his room allowed him to make out silhouettes of what he would see if his eyes were open. Tyler could clearly see her as if she were a shadow behind a sheet, her silhouette adding a tantalizing hint of mystery that he found exhilarating and extremely sexy.

"Okay. Open," she whispered into his ear.

Tyler opened his eyes only to find Chelsea's face nose to nose with his. She raised herself up, still straddling his mid section. Chelsea's attire–or lack there of–was a loose fitting, skimpy, pearlescent toned night gown that barely covered her breasts as well as not leaving much down below as her underwear were clearly visible–

–And gradually getting closer to the zipper of his pants.

"Sweet mother of God," Tyler gasped as he beheld Chelsea and her scantily clad majesty.

"You like it?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh hell yes!" he exclaimed, then joked, "You know, I have one of those. Exactly like yours. But I can safely say it looks a heck of a lot better on you."

"I think so too," Chelsea giggled, leaning back in and connecting for another kiss, this time, opening their mouths to allow their tongues to intermingle and acquaint with the other's.

To Tyler, it was as if someone else was controlling his very actions. Never in his life did he foresee himself in such a position where he actually loved another person so much. Even if he tried, there was no way he could attempt to describe what he felt for Chelsea. He could give a definition of the word love, right down to its origins, but this was something of a different universe. A universe he never wanted to leave.

One of Chelsea's hands snaked its way up under Tyler's shirt and found the bandages from his gun shot wound. Though the bullets were expelled and the flesh scars were all but gone, his flesh was still tender from the blunt force. Inconspicuously, he winced from the minor pain, but endured through it for Chelsea's sake. He didn't want her worrying about his well being.

After an hour of kissing and mild fondling, riddled with giggles as Tyler found her ticklish spot and focused in on it, a loud knock on his door jarred the moment.

"Tyler! I know you're awake! Open up, it's me!" Jennifer called from outside. "I've got some cake."

Tyler pressed his index finger to his lips. "Shh, maybe if we stay quiet, she'll go away."

To no avail, Jennifer continued to knock relentlessly.

"It's okay. We can continue later. We've got all night, birthday boy," Chelsea said, planting one more kiss on his lips, then getting off of him.

Tyler hopped up from the couch, stomped to the door, and opened it partially. "Jay? No offense, but you couldn't have picked a worse time to–"

"Is that Chelly in there?" Jennifer interrupted, then noticed that Tyler's hair and clothing were in disarray.

"Hi Jen," Chelsea called out, peeking her head up from the couch.

Jennifer pushed the door wide open, knocking Tyler out of the way and onto the floor. "Chelly? What are you doing here?" she screeched.

"Doing something important," Tyler groaned as he stood back up.

"Oh, well I brought cake. Tyler, go get us a movie," Jennifer ordered.

Tyler cocked his eyebrow, then was about to say something, until his gaze met with Chelsea's. She silently mouthed "sorry," then shrugged.

"Jay, that better be the best freaking cake in history," he warned with a forced smile, though clearly irritated.

"Oh it is," she gushed as she took a seat next to Chelsea. "It's carrot-lentil with sweet soy butter cream frosting. Um, Chelly? What are you wearing?"

* * *

Though Tyler wanted to watch a sci-fi action movie, Jennifer overruled his choice and grabbed _The Terminal_ with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The only reason he sat through the movie was the fact that there were a few planes in the flick, including a United Airlines Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet–exactly like the one he saved as Magna Man. Tyler also didn't bother with the cake as he hated carrots, lentils, and soy. Even Chelsea, who was almost as organically driven and Jennifer, barely touched her piece, except for the frosting which she licked off, in some instances in a seductive manner whenever she caught Tyler glance in her direction. 

"I'll be back. I need something tasty," Tyler noted.

"There's plenty of cake left," Jennifer offered, eyes still affixed to the movie.

"I said something tasty. Not something I would feed to a rabbit," Tyler informed as he walked upstairs to the kitchen and searched the refrigerator.

A minute later, Chelsea walked in, now wrapped in a flannel quilt that draped over the couch. "Hey."

"Hey," Tyler acknowledged, then went into the freezer and pulled out some Cookie's 'N' Cream ice cream. "Want some?"

Chelsea nodded, Tyler grabbed two spoons, and handed her one. The two then dug their utensils into the frozen dessert and enjoyed.

"Gotta love Jen, huh?" Chelsea mused.

Tyler smiled. "Yeah. She's good people."

"Yeah. Could have picked a better time to come over, though."

"No joke," Tyler laughed, then sighed, "we'd better head back down there."

Tyler put the ice cream away, took Chelsea's spoon, and put it in the sink. Next, the two marched back downstairs, only to find a sleeping Jennifer passed out cold.

"I'd better run her home. Be right back," Tyler whispered as he scooped Jennifer up in his arms gently, then walked out.

* * *

Once he made sure she was tucked in, he hopped from her bedroom window to the sidewalk down below. Hoping to continue from where they left off, Tyler jogged back to his house, walked through the door, and shut it behind him. 

And found a sleeping Chelsea resting on the couch.

Tyler's shoulders drooped way down and he through his head back, briefly staring at the ceiling, then down to his shoes, which he silently removed.

"Damn it, Jay," he muttered to himself as he tiptoed over to the could, picked Chelsea up, then took her over to the bed, placing her under the covers.

Carefully, he moved some of her reddish hair and cupped it behind her ear. Next, he gave her a small kiss on her cheek, causing her to grin and shuffle a tad, but remain out.

He thought about going on a patrol since it had been a few days since Magna Man made an appearance. But as he looked at Chelsea, who slept peacefully, curled up on his bed, he knew that his place was here for the night. Satisfied with his decision, he kicked off his shoes and slid into bed as well.


	18. Chapter 18

**And Now, A Public Service Announcement:**

**After brushing your teeth, Do Not, I repeat DO NOT, drink orange juice...**

**Courtesy, Your Neighborhood Friendly Magna Man...

* * *

Chapter 18: Alone**

As Chelsea slept quietly and without motion, Tyler tossed and turned as his subconscious flooded his mind with a dream–a horrible one.

* * *

Tyler stood in the heart of the financial district of San Francisco–at least what was left of the city. Shattered glass and miscellaneous other debris littered the streets and roads. Overturned cars, trucks, and busses roiled with smoke and fire. Worst of all–there were no signs of life, anywhere. Trees and other foliage that lined the boulevards and parkways were burnt to nothing more than charred remains. 

Tyler pulled his mask down from his face as he had to see this carnage with his own eyes. The sky was a bloody orange color with black smoky clouds. He then looked down on the ground and before him, the charred, carbonized skeletons of lost souls lay, shattered and lifeless.

"Wha-what happened?" he asked himself.

Just then, Tyler heard an odd noise. At first, it was subtle as if it was off in the distance, but then it became louder. It was a stomach churning noise that sounded like liquid going through a clogged drain, mixed with a growling rumble. Fear began to build within him as though he could hear something, he couldn't tell where it was coming from, or what it was for that matter.

Then, off in the distance, he saw _something_. His vision zoomed in and focused on the object. It looked like a bobbing grayish-green mushroom with tentacles. He was shocked to see it since it was something from his favorite video game series, Halo and Halo 2.

"The Flood? But how?" he thought aloud as he watched the single bobbing organism jump and hop around.

More of the life forms emerged from over the hill and soon, one blossomed into hundreds, then thousands. Tyler remembered that in the game, the small pod-like things were easy to kill, but he then remembered about what those things could do to both people and the aliens in the game. Tyler was now terrified. If what he though had happened, actually occurred then...

Tyler's fear was confirmed as he saw dozens of humanoid-like organisms mass near the smaller pods. Their limbs were barely held together by rotting flesh that Tyler could smell from where he was, though they were blocks away from his location. Their heads hung limply from their torso's at odd angles with sensory probes ejecting from their necks. They were known as Combat Forms while the pods were known as Infection Forms.

Tyler took a small step backward, and en masse, the Flood zombies turned and faced him. There was no sound, except for Tyler's heart beat as he stared down the abominations, who stared right back at him, with the intent to make Tyler become their food. The creatures then began to advance, at first slowly. The combat forms then vaulted high into the air and landed a block from his position, their whip-like tentacles on their arms flailing wildly as they stampeded for him.

_If they're anything like the Flood in the game, melee fighting won't do a thing,_ he thought to himself, pushing his terror to the back of his mind. He had to stop those monsters if there was anyone left, even just one person.

The closer they got, the more Tyler realized that these monstrosities _were_ the people he swore to defend. One that was close enough let out a vicious swipe with his tentacles, sending Tyler flying into an overturned bus. Tyler screamed as the force of the blow felt as if it pulverized his bone–which was virtually impossible. He didn't have time to dwell on the hit. Quickly, Tyler sprang up, igniting his hands knowing that he'd just have to torch them all.

_No! I can't,_ he then thought. Even though they wanted him dead, there was no way he could kill these people. He leapt into the air, but it was to no avail as a dozen combat forms leapt as well and grasped onto him, forcing him back down. Tyler struggled, trying to wrench his body free, then came to the conclusion of what he had to do.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he let out two hellish beams of heat energy, incinerating the Flood forms latched onto his boots and cape, turning them to dust and ash.

Hundreds more Combat and Infection forms appeared, pouring out from buildings, jumping up from storm drains and man holes. Tyler was outnumbered 750,000 to 1. There was only one thing he could do: run. Tyler gathered some altitude and soon was up near the roofs of the towers in the financial district–only to find more Flood waiting for him. Combat form after Combat form leapt from the towers, many of them falling to the ground without a care. A lucky few, however, landed on Tyler's back and began bludgeoning him on his head, torso, everywhere, forcing him down as well.

Tyler, along with the Flood forms riding him, crashed completely through the Chevron Tower, bounced off an adjacent structure, and crashed onto Market Street, with the landing killing the Flood riders. More zombies emerged and a pair of them lassoed their tentacles around Tyler's neck, picking him up as if he was nothing more that a second hand rag doll. Two more Combat forms hobbled up, then lashed at his legs violently, causing Tyler to cry out with agony as his bones were being shattered with no remorse.

It was then he looked at what was left of the faces of these forms. Though they were decaying and badly deformed, he recognized them. The two that had him by the throat were Raven and Eddie while the two going to town on his legs were Jennifer and–

"Chelsea? Chelsea!"

Even more Combat forms entered the fight, and Tyler recognized them as well: Mr. And Mrs. Wallace, the acquaintances he made in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and in San Francisco, Sabrina–Lithium Flower, Lonestar. And worst of all, his grandparents and his own mom, Eva. The mental anguish of him losing everyone he cared about, especially Chelsea, hurt more than the forms beating him into a pulp. He no longer had the will to fight.

There was nothing left to fight for.

Then, something he had never done in his life happened. Tears began to form in his eyes, then trickled down the sides of his face. For the first time in his life, he was crying; hurt that he lost the ones he loved and cared for. More than anything, he wanted to be put out of his misery and die, but even with the constant bombardment of tentacle and now Infection forms using sharp spikes to bore into his chest, he continued to suffer. Not from physical pain, however, from emotional.

A voice then boomed through the atmosphere, causing the beating to stop.

"My, how you've grown, Subject Zero Four Four," the voice announced.

The voice was one Tyler thought he would never have to hear again. "D-Dupont?"

"You are correct, Zero Four Four."

"Just put me out of my misery you sick son of a–"

"No. I will leave you, but your misery shall continue. My Flood forms with beat and batter you. And you shall stay alive to feel it."

"Please? Just kill me!" Tyler begged. "I don't want to be in this world anymore."

"Begging? Like a dog?" Dupont taunted. "I see things like friendship and love have made you soft."

"Please? Kill me. Kill me! Please!"

"You are weak, Zero Four Four. Begging for mercy," Dupont hissed. "I never taught you such a thing. I showed you how to be strong."

Tyler panted. "You only sh-showed me how to kill and murder–"

"I showed you strength!" Dupont's voice roared. "I showed you survival of the fittest. And you thank me by running away. It was I who created you. You're nothing more than a personal object. A tool."

"Then get rid of me," Tyler snarled.

Dupont scoffed. "Now why would I just throw away such a valuable investment? Besides, you wanted to be free. Well then, welcome to the world!"

* * *

Tyler awoke, sweating and breathing hard. He placed a hand to one of his eyes and felt moisture. 

"Was I...?" he thought aloud.

Next, he looked over at Chelsea, who was still sleeping and didn't look deformed or anything. He breathed a sigh of relief, then sat on the edge of his bed. Never had such a thing rattled him so much. Feeling extremely hot, he kicked off his pants and socks, then quietly went upstairs to get some ice water.

Tyler pulled up a stool and sat at the counter. He knew a dream like that could never happen, but with all of the things that have been happening, particularly with him and the fact he had super powers, such far fetched things might be possible.

"Note to self: lay off playing Halo for a while," he said to himself, taking another drink of water, then burying his face into his hands.

He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to think about something other than the nightmare. It didn't work as he would get brief mental images as if he was receiving periodic burst transmissions. He needed to clear his mind, maybe get some air, but leaving the house was out of the question as Chelsea could wake up anytime, even though it was around 3:00 in the morning.

"Tyler?" Chelsea yawned as she stood in the doorway. "What are you doing up?"

"Huh?" Tyler gasped, startled. "Oh. I had a bad dream."

She walked up and put her arms around his shoulders. For a second, the image of tentacles clutching his throat flashed through his mind, causing him to jump, which Chelsea noticed.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a caring manner.

""Just a little on edge I guess," he noted.

"Oh. Well okay, but one more thing: where'd your pants go? 'Cause this is the most of _you_ I've ever seen." she smirked.

Not quite understanding, Tyler cocked an eyebrow, until it dawned on him that she was talking about the fact that he was only in his underwear and a shirt. "Well, you know, I got kinda hot plus you're half naked and-and I didn't want you to be the only one in their under roo's 'cause that's no fun for–"

Chelsea pulled his head down so he was staring up at the ceiling. She then leaned in and gave him a kiss, upside down–at least in his point of view–shutting him up.

"I haven't worn under roos since pre-school," she grinned after pulling back from the kiss. "Now, I wear panties because I'm a big girl."

Still looking up at her, he had to agree. "That you are."

He then lost his balance and crashed head first into the tiled kitchen floor with a _thud._

"That did not feel ples–" his train of thought trailed off as he had a clean view up Chelsea's night gown, viewing not only her panties, but the bottoms of her breasts.

Chelsea knelt down and kissed him one more time. "After seeing _Spider-Man, _I've always wanted to try that."

She then giggled at the intoxicated gaze on Tyler's face as he remained on the ground. Next, he quickly hopped up.

"I gotta work on my cool," he groaned.

"I kinda like the awkward clumsy side of you. I think it's cute." Chelsea sweetly stated. "And I know you were looking up my nighty too."

Tyler nervously chuckled as Chelsea walked to the doorway back to his room, then let a shoulder strap on her nighty, fall loosely. Next, she let the other strap slip off, then took cover behind the doorway, only showing her face.

"If you wanna see more, follow me." she enticed.

Without hesitation, Tyler vaulted over the kitchen island counter, knocking over a bowl of apples. Quickly, he gathered them, placed them on the counter, though a few rolled back onto the floor, and he bounded down the stairs, listening to Chelsea laugh and screech as she dove under the covers of his bed. Tyler followed suit as he slid in past her feet and took a position on top of her, his head popping out above hers.

"Hello there," she said smiling.

"_Hola_," Tyler smiled.

The two stared into each others eyes and interlocked their fingers together.

"I love your eyes," Chelsea cooed, enjoying the moment.

"I love yo' face," Tyler added in.

Chelsea beamed hearing those words from Tyler. Tyler, on the other hand, grinned because he could feel her bare bust against his chest, like a pair of cushions with two tips that poked him in an appealing way. Because of this, and the fact he was with her, the thought of his nightmare went away.

* * *

Through the windows in Tyler's room, rays of sunlight poured through. Groggily, Tyler awoke, only to find Chelsea still fast asleep on his chest and wrapped in his arms. Slowly, he turned his head to check his alarm clock. It read 6:27 A.M. Tyler then looked back at her and moved some of her hair from out of her face, where he noticed dips of drool from her mouth pooling on his chest. 

_Okay, Tyler, you love this girl, but that is nasty, _he thought to himself, slightly cringing his face.

Keeping his eyes affixed on Chelsea, Tyler cautiously took his other arm off her and felt around on the floor beside his bed for his shirt to mop up her mouth water. _Hmm, this'll do,_ he thought as his hand found a piece of cloth that was too small to be his shirt. Making sure his movements were slow, he lifted it up and found that the piece of cloth was something _much_ more important.

And it definitely didn't belong to him.

He then placed his hand on her back and carefully ran it down the incline of her spine. When his hand approached her ticklish spot, she began to fidget and let out soft moans, effectively making Tyler freeze without any motion. When she settled back to sleep, his hand continued its voyage down her curvature until it reached the small of her back. Taking a deep breath, he allowed his hand to proceed up the incline of her soft–

"Mmm, Tyler? Is your hand on my butt?" Chelsea asked, waking up.

Playfully, she swiped her hand across his face. "A certain someone told me that you'd like me as a birthday present. I hope you plan on using the other hand."

Tyler's eyebrow shot up. "Oh really? Well who would this little birdie be who spilled the beans?"

"Oh it was no bird. It was Jen. Unless she's one big bird." Chelsea stated. "In fact, my Cousin Earl has a parrot, it'll talk your ears off."

"Well, Jay's no bird–at least I don't think so. But she yammers just as much," Tyler mused, then placed his other hand on Chelsea's rear, "but she was right about me wanting to unwrap you."

"Well, I must say you've done a great job."

"Why thank you, Chelse. I try, y'know." He relished, then gave her a small peck on her lips. "I love everything about you"–

–He gave her another kiss–

"From your hair– "

–Followed by another–

"To your eyes 'cause they're brown, like me"–

–Followed by another kiss–

"To your... you know what's, and down your tummy and legs and toes and back again.

"Chelsea? I love you."

Completely taken by what he had just said, Chelsea became misty eyed, never hearing anything say something so sweet to her.

"Oh come on now. If you cry then... then... Oh man, I-I think I got somethin' in my eye," he goofed, then bawled in a joking manner, thus causing Chelsea to laugh, just one of the things about her that he loved and lived for.

* * *

Five hours went by as if it was a blur. Tyler loaned Chelsea one of his old flight suits from when he was ten years old due to the fact that all she wore to his house the night before was that nighty and a jacket, then walked her home in the nearly noon time light. Once back at his house, he checked the messages on the answering machine, the majority of them being "Happy Birthday, Tyler." 

Once he went through all the recordings, he finished what he started earlier: opening his last two gifts. He didn't expect much, especially after receiving a motorcycle as well as Chelsea in all her glory. His last two presents were a royal blue full face helmet with a silver tinted mirrored visor and integrated intercom headset allowing him to talk to someone else without the noise of the engine or listen to music on a CD or Mp3 player. He also got a somewhat large model kit of a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber–a plane he knew he would fly someday–from his Uncle Reese and Aunt Gwen, who lived in Chicago.

All in all, Tyler couldn't have asked–no, dream, of a better birthday. He wished his mom was here since they had a tradition ever since she took him in, where they would go around town, just the two of them, and do fun things like catch a Mariners game at Safeco Field, or stroll through Pike Place Market or the Waterfront back in Seattle. And the first time Eva and himself went to Disneyland and Universal Studios when they lived in Los Angeles.

Now, thing were changing as Eva was off somewhere in the world. He was okay with it, however, knowing that sometimes change was good–not to mention that he now had another very special person in his life. As he thought about her, Tyler then thought about himself–particularly about his origins, and how he would tell Chelsea. She more than deserved the right to know, but how she would take it was the heart of Tyler's reluctance.

* * *

**Some Notes: I'd like to give a special Ooh Rah to avdpteatime. Thank you so much for the kind words! You is awesome!**

**Semper Fi**


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry I left y'all hangin' for a while... My Bad... And keep those reviews coming. That's an Order! Don't Sass me! if You Don't Review I'll Find Out Where You Live Then I'll Steal All of Your Canned Peaches From Your Cupboards! Just Kidding

* * *

Chapter 19: Sunday to Monday**

"Well'p, it's good to be back out on the prowl," Tyler said to himself, high up on his perch on the Transamerica Pyramid.

With year number seventeen already on a positive note, he was all smiles. The daytime air was a pleasant 70 degrees with a slight saltiness from the bay. Down below, people went along their Sunday afternoon business. As he sat on the edge of the tower, he pondered something he read while checking out an e-mail that Jennifer sent him talking about Zodiac Signs. Though he didn't buy into it, he did find some of the information about his sign, Gemini, to be interesting.

Reading through it, he was hoping for aggressive lover and best in bed, but was rewarded with being nice, a great listener, and trustworthy. All were good qualities–and he knew that–but they weren't quite the ones he was hoping for. It did say, however, that a Gemini's love was one of a kind. He then looked at what was said about Libra's, the sign of Chelsea, after Jennifer told him when her birthday was. It described a Libra as being very gentle, silly and fun, and most caring person ever.

He could attest to that as it was a nice way to describe Chelsea. But there was one prominent thing that really caught his attention: Libra's were great in bed.

"Jackpot!" he cried, throwing his hands up and falling backwards in his chair, especially after experiencing some action, even though they just fooled around and didn't have sex.

Judging by his night with Chelsea, he knew he now had an active drive, but luckily, he didn't have to deal with the fears of contracting or transmitting diseases. He was curious to the fact of whether he could reproduce or not. Up until the relocation to San Francisco, it had never been an issue, but now? One way or the other, however, he never really was comfortable talking or thinking about intimacy.

"Well, that's what condoms are for." he said to himself. "Or maybe she's on the pill or something?"

Nevertheless, he vowed to himself that he wouldn't go all the way with her unless she wanted to. Plus, the thought of all this was beginning to give him a brain cramp.

* * *

"Girl, I can't believe you spent the night at his house," Raven exclaimed, shuffling through a mass of clothes in her closet.

"Rae? It was... amazing," Chelsea sighed, reminiscing about the night.

Raven peeked her head out. "So did he sleep on the couch?"

Chelsea laughed, "No Rae. We slept in his bed."

"Fully clothed?"

Chelsea blushed, then shook her head.

"So you and him were... nekkid?" Raven whispered.

"Well, he had his boxers on. They were so cute 'cause they had little smiley faces on them."

"Oh yeah that's great, Chelse," Raven noted sarcastically, then yelled, "Do you still have your V-Card?"

Chelsea grabbed her purse and looked inside. "Let's see... I have my ID, my Old Navy card, my Banana Republic–"

"Not that kind of card. I mean are you still a virgin?" Raven asked, filled with concern.

"Oh, of course, Rae. We just, you know, kissed. A lot. A whole lot. And he said he loved me, too. I said it first, but then I shoved my tongue in his mouth before he could say anything. But he said it later on."

Raven exhaled with relief. Even though she really liked Tyler and thought he and Chelsea were excellent together, Chelsea mattered more since she was her best friend. "So you guys just made out all night? You two must have some serious lung capacity.

"So you're telling me that you and him didn't... you know... _hook up_?" Raven asked slowly, but deliberately as she continued to fumble through her closet.

"What do you mean hook up?" Chelsea wondered, not quite comprehending.

"Damn it, Chelse! I can't believe that you and Tyler didn't fu–" quickly, Raven stopped her statement, knowing that her parents were just downstairs and her voice had a tendency to carry a long way. "I can't believe you two didn't have sex. He's a guy, after all."

"Rae? He's not that type of guy. In fact, he's been nothing but a gentleman," Chelsea stated.

Raven knew Chelsea was right. The reason she knew was not because of her friend, but the fact that Tyler told her everything about him, in addition to the times that Raven "inadvertently" read his mind. He really did care about Chelsea a whole lot. To the point where it almost killed him. Literally. Still, though, the fact that he was, in a word, assembled, still made her nervous, for Chelsea's sake.

"Well... do you guys have pet names for each other yet?" Raven inquired.

"Nuh uh. And you haven't called me by my pet name in a while," Chelsea noted, then pouted. "I bet you forgot, didn't you."

Raven poked her head out, cocked an eyebrow, then groaned. "I didn't forget–Biscuit Head."

Chelsea couldn't contain her giddiness as he hopped off the edge of Raven's bed, ran to her best friend, and embraced her in a big hug. "I knew you remembered."

"Yeah, yeah, Biscuit Heat." Raven muttered.

"Aww, Rae," Chelsea squealed, overjoyed.

* * *

Opting not to remain at his perch some 700 feet above everything, Tyler went for a flight around the residential neighborhoods of the city. _If I'm gonna watch over them, the least I could do is at least get an idea of who I'm watching,_ Tyler thought as he glided just above the streets. Since it was a Sunday afternoon, most people were out on the streets and had a clear view of him. Many of the people who watched him fly either stared at him or waved, trying to get his attention. Courteously, Tyler waved back and kept on his way.

Up ahead, he saw a small red balloon rise higher and higher into the air. Below, he heard a lady consoling her child.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go," the woman said as her child cried, watching her balloon float away.

Without hesitation, Tyler snagged the balloon, then soared down to the ground.

"Hang on just a moment, ma'am. I think you forgot something." Tyler said as he landed.

Both the woman and child turned around, then gasped. "M-Magna Man?"

"The one and only," Tyler replied, then knelt down before the kid. "And I think this belong to you."

The little girl smiled brightly, as Tyler presented her the balloon. She stuck out her wrist and Tyler tied the ribbon around it, making a nice bow.

"There you go," he said, standing back up and noticing a nice crowd massing around him.

He gave her a curt two fingered salute, which the girl gave right back with a smile, then he lifted off. Before he did so, however, he noticed a few people take his picture, a couple armed with highly professional cameras.

* * *

The next morning, Monday, Tyler gathered his things for his return to school. It had been a long, but highly enjoyable four days free from learning, but two days off, plus the weekend was enough of a break, not to mention that the school year would be over in a couple more weeks.

Since Eva was still off on her business trip, Tyler walked upstairs, made some coffee, then went to the front door to grab the newspaper. Sipping his coffee, he grabbed the paper, only to find himself–as Magna Man–right on the front page, along with that little girl and her mom. The headline read, _From Stopping Villains To Helping Kids: What Can't He Do._

A grin cracked his face as he looked through the article which had a few testimonials from some of the people around San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area. In the article, one guy from Sausalito, just north of the city, stated how much he hated Magna Man and wished he would leave.

"Ah, my adoring fans," Tyler chuckled, walking back into the house.

An hour later, after getting cleaned and dressed, he decided that it was high time to take his motorcycle out for a spin by riding it to school. He had been meaning to ride it over the weekend, something much more fun–Chelsea–prevented him in doing so.

* * *

Raven, Chelsea, and Eddie strolled down the sidewalk, approaching the front of the school, which was abuzz with activity from students chatting with their friends or playing Hacky-Sack.

"I ain't gonna lie to y'all, I don't feel like being here," Raven yawned as the trio walked.

"Who really does wanna be here Rae?" Eddie asked. "It's a Monday. There go my cookie lips. Holla back y'all."

Before Raven and Chelsea could say goodbye, Eddie took off towards his girlfriend. Once he was out of sight, three people came up behind the two girls–three people they had managed to avoid for a while: Bianca, Loca, and Muffy.

"Baxter!" Bianca yelled. "It's been a while."

Both Raven and Chelsea's eyes shot wide open. Slowly, they turned around–and found the steely, frightening stare of the three tormentors.

"Oh snap," Raven gasped.

Though Bianca was slightly shorter than Raven and Chelsea, she was more than tough, not to mention that she had an intimidation factor off the charts. Next, Muffy, a girl with blonde hair, had the appearance of a preppie school goer, but that was just a front as her inner badness was hidden beneath a shell. Finally, the visible muscle of the group, Loca stood a slender, but solid six feet. All three had gazes that could burn through steel.

"You know the best part of waking up?" Bianca growled.

"C-could it be Folgers in your cup?" Raven nervously asked.

"Hell no!" Loca sneered. "It's a sunrise ass whoopin'!"

"Well I much rather begin the morning with a bowl of Lucky Charms," Chelsea noted. "They're magically delicious."

The three oppressors cocked their eyebrows at Chelsea's random statement. Even Raven had to shoot Chelsea a strange look.

"Bianca is thinking that you're a retard." Muffy scoffed, acting as a liaison. "And she wants to say that this will hurt you more than it hurts us."

Raven and Chelsea embraced each other, fearing for their safety as Bianca, Loca, and Muffy came closer, evil grins plastered on their faces as they popped their knuckles. Then, on a motorcycle, someone came up as if he was a knight on a black and white stallion.

The person wore a brown leather jacket, khaki pants, and highly polished brown boots. Their head was covered by a blue helmet with a mirrored visor. The rider revved the engine, getting the attention of the three female bullies.

"Now what do we have going on here, ladies?" the rider asked.

"None of your damn business," Bianca snapped.

"Well, precious. That's where you're wrong. Now those two girls are close friends of mine," The rider noted, his voice hinting that he was smiling.

To Chelsea, that motorcycle looked very familiar as if she had seen it recently. It then dawned on her.

"Tyler?"

"Wait? That's Tyler? He got a motorcycle?" Raven asked, shocked.

Tyler raised the front portion of his helmet up, revealing his face. His eyes, however, were covered by a pair of polarized and mirrored silver lensed aviator style sunglasses.

"That's Tyler? The one who got shot?" Bianca inquired.

"That would be me," Tyler grinned. "You three must be Bianca, Muffy, and Loca."

Bianca's smirk went from one that had the intent of harm, to interest in Tyler, though it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

Muffy stated, "Bianca thinks you're hot and thinks you should go with her."

Chelsea's face turned bright red–nearly the same color as her hair–as she was filling with rage. Raven held Chelsea in place, however, making sure she didn't get herself broken and battered.

"Aw, well I am truly flattered, but..."–Tyler beckoned for Bianca to come closer and when she casually did, filing her finger nails with her infamous pink file and walking in a gangster step, Tyler placed his arm around her shoulder, then pointed to Chelsea–"now you see that beautiful red-head over there. Yeah. Me and her have a Fan-Tastic relationship dealy so... I'm going to have to respectfully say heck no."

Chelsea's face returned to it's normal tone and she wasn't as tense, even though Bianca was way to close to Tyler for her liking. Bianca, on the other hand, became enraged as a handful of other students witnessed her embarrassment put down by Tyler.

"Oh I hate to see a young lady upset. Turn that frown upside down." Tyler exclaimed. "It's a lovely gray and cloudy San Francisco Monday morning. Good stuff, man, good stuff."

Muffy scoffed. "Bianca thinks that if you weren't so cute and had a motorcycle, she'd mess you up right now."

With that, the three stormed off and went into the school.

"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way to class!" Raven yelled.

"Nice rhyme, Rae," Chelsea exclaimed.

"I'll see you guys inside," Tyler said, then rode off into the parking lot.

"Girl, where can I get me a Tyler?" Raven asked, watching him round a corner then go out of sight.

"But, Rae? You're already got a Mister Perfect." Chelsea stated.

"Well I want a Mister Perfect and a Tyler model too," Raven whined. "Chelse, you are so lucky!"

"It's because I eat my Lucky Charms." Chelsea said proudly, then noticed the same strange look that Raven gave her quite often.


	20. Chapter 20

**Note: I'd Like To Give A Shout Out To Whatsthatsound... again. Recently, She Put My Story On One Of Those C2 Thingies Under... Get this... "Best Stories I Ever Read on Fanfiction. Congrats To Authors." **

**Whoa! Thank You So Much, I-I'd Like To Thank God, My Mom, My Manager... Uh, Nevermind, I Don't Like my Manager... Don't Cut Me Off I've Waited Too Long For This... Uh**

**Ahem, That Last Speech, Pretend You Never Saw That. And now... To Chapter 20**

* * *

**Chapter 20: The Element Benders**

Friday arrived after a quiet week, consisting mostly of school work and a few late night patrols. Other than that, it was another calm one in the city. In his last class of the day–auto shop–Tyler worked on his motorcycle, cleaning the chrome crash bars, valves, just about everything, making sure his bike was in tip-top condition. The others in the class–ten other teenage guys–worked on their own cars, or the autos supplied by the school that were there only for learning purposes.

Since the class was small, Mr. Fleming, the teacher, allowed them to listen to some music. Playing on the stereo was Tyler's favorite song, _DARE _by the Gorillaz. As he worked, he mouthed the lyrics to the song. After he finished cleaning, Tyler mounted the motorcycle and did some electrical work on the dashboard panel computer that he rigged together by meaning of "borrowing" some components. In reality, Tyler made a few late night flights to the various bone yard airports where retired planes lay to rest, and scavenged a few things from the cockpits of decommissioned fighter jets, including a radio system thus allowing him to tap into the phone lines and make calls while riding.

Whenever he flew to those places, however, it made him semi-sad to see so many planes that at one point served a purpose, sitting in the desert, corroding away from the gritty winds and blazing heat. Though he only made three flights, thus far, each was bittersweet. Bittersweet because since he liked planes a lot, it was nice to be around them–without having to lug one back to Earth this time, but the fact that they were now permanently part of the landscape and would never fly again was depressing.

Another reason why Tyler found the bone yards so bittersweet–more nerve racking to him, anyway–was the fact that there were tarantulas. And lots of them. Sure, Tyler could take on thugs, psychos, and disasters, but for some reason, those furry arachnids freaked him out. Frankly, he wasn't too fond of any bug, be it a spider, ant, or fly. In fact, he had a rule when it came to bugs: kill first, ask questions later, especially when it came to spiders. Just the thought of those eight legged freaks, let alone hairy ones, made him shiver. _I seriously hope I don't have to face any giant man-eating spiders_, he thought to himself.

* * *

Study Hall–Tyler's last period–was twenty levels past boring. Since it wasn't an accredited class, he could have went home. For some reason, though, he decided to stay. Well, he knew the reason... it was obvious, in fact.

It had been a week since he and Chelsea spent "special time" with each other. Since they both said the three words, _I love you_ to each other, he didn't really know how to classify her anymore–meaning were they boyfriend and girlfriend? The thought of having a significant other was nice, but to him, the term _boyfriend _and _girlfriend _just had a strange sound to him.

Soon, his thoughts turned about how he was going to tell Chelsea about his true background. He knew he had to tell her at some point. His reasoning for being reluctant was not only how she would take it, but if his dream was any indication of a message or sign, Dupont was still out there. And if he found out that Tyler loved somebody, Dupont would use that to his advantage to draw him out.

"I'll tell her tonight," he whispered to himself. "She deserves to know."

* * *

Raven, along with Chelsea and Eddie, sat in Senorita Rodriguez's Spanish class, finishing up some work. As she wrote some Spanish phrases on her paper, a vision flooded into her mind, causing her to stare off into space. Once it was over, she blinked her eyes rapidly, then shook her head.

"Rae? D'you have a vision?" Eddie quietly asked, causing Chelsea to turn around as well.

"You guys?" Raven began. "I think... I think I saw who Magna man is."

The bell, indicating that the day was over, rang and quickly, the three made their way to Raven's locker. Once there, the three huddled together.

"Well, Rae? Who is he?" Chelsea asked in an excited manner.

"Well, I didn't see his whole face. But he does have green eyes and his hair was black, except for a few strands that were either gray or white, I dunno. In fact, his hair and eyes were kind of like–"

"W'sup guys," Tyler said, walking up to them with his helmet in hand.

"Rae was just tellin' us that she saw who Magna Man was," Eddie explained.

Tyler's eyes shot wide open. He couldn't believe that it hadn't dawned on him that Raven very well could have known that he was Magna Man. She knew just about everything else about him. His throat felt like it was closing and his palms felt warm. _How am I going to explain this? _he thought. _Chelse is gonna find out I'm a freak and everyone's gonna know I'm the weirdo in the black and silver suit and cape._

"Tee? You okay, playa?" Eddie asked.

Tyler shook out of his brief stupor. "Y-yeah, I'm cool. So who's Mags?"

Raven shrugged. "I only saw part of his face. But his hair and eyes are exactly like yours, though."

"Oh," Tyler chuckled, relieved that she didn't know, and hoped that it would stay that way. "Well that's good. I-I mean, it would be cool to meet him... you know."

The three gave him a strange look, usually reserved for Chelsea.

"What?" Tyler exclaimed. "Oh don't give me that look. I'm only weird because I've been around y'all too long."

The three then glared at him. Noticing his fault, Tyler threw his hands up in submission.

"So what's up for the weekend?" Eddie wondered aloud.

"I dunno, but I'll call y'all later. I've gotta meet up with my mom in Chinatown." Raven noted.

Saying their goodbyes, Raven and Eddie went their separate ways, leaving Chelsea and Tyler at her locker. She opened her locker, then using the door as a make-shift partition. She then pulled him down by the collar of his jacket, grinned, then gave him a kiss. A welcome surprise, Tyler cocked his eyebrow, but relaxed.

"My parents want you to come for dinner. Seven okay?" Chelsea whispered.

Before he could answer, she kissed him again, knowing that she could get Tyler to commit to just about anything when she did so. Earlier that week, she managed to get him to come with Raven, Jennifer, and herself to the mall. She even almost got him to get a facial and manicure. Almost.

"I will be there with bells on," Tyler said with the plastered demeanor he always received whenever Chelsea kissed him.

"Oh," Chelsea scoffed, then laughed. "You don't have to wear any bells. But my parents are psychiatrists and they may try to psych you out or something. See you at seven."

Without another word, she shut her locker and bolted away. For another moment or two, Tyler stood there, his mouth slightly ajar and the corners of his lips curled into a small grin. It then dawned on him–

"Wait a second... I'm gonna meet her parents? Oh great."

* * *

After dropping his motorcycle off at the house, Tyler went into his backyard and took a quick look around, making sure there was no one in the neighbors yards. Satisfied, he stuck his arms straight out to his sides.

"It's go time," he said nonchalantly, causing him to transform into his alter ego.

Once the blinding light vanished and the resulting black speckles in his sight dispersed, Tyler vaulted high into the air. In about ten seconds, he was a mile up in the sky. Off in the distance, he could see the afternoon air traffic rush arriving and departing from San Francisco International. He hovered in place as he watched a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 rocket off and head out over the Pacific. Next, a United Airlines 747 roared off, hot on the Japan Airlines jet. For some reason, however, that plane looked familiar. Tyler knew that United had dozens of 747's, but for some odd reason, Tyler knew that plane very well. Quickly, he hurled himself towards it, then focused in on its tail number.

"Four three one U-A," he said to himself, reading the plane's tail number near the rear of the aircraft.

Wanting a true confirmation, he sped up his flying and soared side by side with the jumbo jet. Soon, he was parallel with the steadily ascending jet. Through the small, oval windows that dotted the side of the dark gray plane, Tyler noticed the passengers staring out at him, a few waving in an effort to get his attention. As not to disappoint, Tyler waved back, then increased his velocity so as to get to the cockpit.

Once he was there, he peered off to his left. The first person to notice his presence was the co-pilot of the plane, who acknowledged Tyler by giving him a awestruck look. The co-pilot then motioned something to the captain, who then peered out to his right. Instantly, Tyler recognized him as the same captain from United Flight 293–the plane he landed. Inside the cockpit, the captain saluted crisply, then made a thumbs up, which Tyler responded by doing the same.

Glad to see it was the same captain and plane, Tyler rolled to the right and turned back towards land, allowing the plane to speed on ahead, off to its destination somewhere in the world; its four engines making a thunderous roar that was like music to Tyler's ears.

"Have a safe flight, guys," he said to himself as the jet gradually became a dot off in the sky.

As he flew back, he felt a breeze blowing to his back. At first, he didn't pay any mind to it, until he happened to see the trees down below rustling in the opposite direction. Tyler then noticed the breeze become more intense, and much warmer.

"Strange," Tyler said to himself, stopping to a hover, then turning around.

Off in the distance, Tyler identified two shapes. He magnified, then focused his sight on the two shapes–which turned out to be people. The fact that they were flying like him was a sure sign that this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. He noticed that the two were wearing flowing robes reminiscent of a Star Wars Jedi Knight, however, instead of earthy tones, one was wearing orange and red while the other was sporting light blue and white.

Before Tyler could do anything, even blink, one of the robed figures became engulfed in dancing flames. The figure then did a series Northern Shaolin Kung Fu movements, creating a fist shape with the flames, and propelling the blaze straight for Tyler.

"Whoa!" Tyler screamed just as the fist of fire impacted and swallowed him into a self contained inferno.

The force sent Tyler flying backwards and crashing down onto Geary Boulevard, tumbling out of control until he made acquaintances with a semi truck's trailer at the intersection of Geary and Park Presidio. The force and heat of Tyler left a gaping hole in the trailer that smoldered. Before Tyler could react, the second figure hovered above him, their light blue robe flowing in the wind. The figure then moved its arms in a rhythmic motion. The air around Tyler began to rustle, gradually gaining strength. The rustling breeze then became a violent gale, sending onlookers to the ground from the force of the wind. The figure then focused in on the disabled semi trailer. Moving their arms in a swirling motion, a minute tornado formed under the trailer, lifting the fifteen ton object of the ground as if it was noting more than a feather. The trailer then hovered, not over Tyler, however, but over a group of bystanders. It then began to drop.

Without saying a word, even thinking, Tyler sprang to his feet, scooted over to the petrified on lookers, and caught the large trailer before it could crush the people. As he did so, the ground beneath the street shook.

"Earthquake!" some shouted, causing panic and hysteria.

Since it was the beginning of the evening rush, there were hundreds of people, be it pedestrians, drivers, or those on mass transit, all screaming and in pandemonium. Quickly, Tyler set the trailer onto the street, but was welcomed by another robed figure, this one adorned in dark brown and tan attire, erupting from the ground, bursting through the pavement and sending debris and underground piping everywhere, littering the streets and sidewalks as well as injuring some people. A severed waterline then shot water high into the air, dampening everything. Following the third figure was a fourth, who wore robes of turquoise and silver.

Tyler had had enough of this. If it was a fight they were looking for, then they were going to get one. Gracefully, he lifted off and hovered above the intersection.

"Who are you and why are you doing this?" he demanded to know. "And don't make your intro's too long 'cause I've got plans later on."

The figures pulled the hoods off their heads.

"I am Zuko," the one in orange and red stated. "Master of fire."

Next, the one in light blue and white spoke. "I am Aang, master of air."

"I am Sokka, master of the earth," the one in brown and tan noted.

The final one, in turquoise and silver exclaimed, "I am Katara, master of water. We are the Element Benders."

Tyler crossed his arms, then checked an imaginary watch on his left wrist. "Are you guys done? 'Cause I have an important date at seven where I'm meeting the parents. So if we could wrap this up quickly, that would be swell.

"Oh... and just to be polite, I'm Magna Man, master of... well... nothing really, I guess."

Katara stepped forward, her white hair braided into tight strands. "If you are mocking us, it will be your undoing, hero."

The four Element Benders went into their respective martial arts stances. Tyler landed and he too got into a ready position, his cape blowing in the wind, their robes dancing as well.

"Let's do this," Tyler noted.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry about the Long delay, people. Had a nice little case of writer's block... not to mention work, and finals. Oh boy those finals! And Oh boy howdy all those damn packages! Anyway, this Chapter's a supersized one to make up for lost time...**

**Semper Fi!

* * *

Chapter 21: Showdown In Chinatown-Showdown At The Daniels**

Tyler sized up his opponents, then analyzed the best way to neutralize them without haste.

"Let's shake things up, shall we," Sokka exclaimed, stomping his foot into the ground.

The resulting force caused the whole area to shake. Violently. Car alarms blared and the windows in nearby homes and buildings rattled, some shattering. Sokka then stomped again, causing a slab of asphalt to shoot upwards. He then leapt, then kicked the rock solid slab as if it was nothing more than a soda can.

"Holy–" Tyler began as he bounded into the air.

The slab of pavement crashed and shattered a nearby car into a metal slag.

"If he can shake the ground..." Tyler thought to himself.

He knew that San Francisco was seismically active. Tyler knew all about the 1906 quake and the Loma Prieta quake of '89. _If he can control the ground, _Tyler thought_, then he could level the city._

_Or the whole region._

Tyler went on the offensive and darted straight for Sokka. He reared his fist up and prepped to let out a vicious blow. Just as he took a swing, aiming for the earth bender's face, Sokka gingerly moved out of the way, avoiding the punch. To counter, Tyler went low and swiped Sokka's legs from under his body, causing the foe to fall.

While the benders of air and fire stood back, as if waiting for their turns, Katara, the lone female joined in on the fight. She spread her legs apart, going into a sturdy stance. Next, she stuck her arms out in front of her body and moved them the waves of the ocean. At first, Tyler felt a fine mist hitting his mask. Just then, two fire hydrants exploded and geysers of water erupted from them.

Briefly, Tyler stood in awe, watching her move, controlling the water the way she did, like a dance. It was eerily beautiful. Katara then changed her stance and moved her arms back and forth, as if she were reeling in a fishing net. Above her, the water too, began to move and sway in resonance with her. Even the hundreds of bystanders caught in the melee watched her movements. Some even clapped, thinking this was some sort of theater performance.

"Take this Magna Man!" she cried.

The dancing geysers then formed into one spiraling column, that bent into Tyler's direction. The liquid then gathered strength and shot forward, whooshing past Katara.

"Oh boy," Tyler muttered, then quickly back flipped, jumped high into the air, and let dual orbs of heat energy well in his hands.

The fist of water then froze to solid ice. Seeing an opportunity, Tyler altered his inertia and landed on the solid water. He then slid on the ice, using as a pathway, straight for Katara. Joining back into the fight, Sokka leapt up onto the frozen pathway, cutting Tyler off. Like a speed skater, Tyler skidded to a halt, the end result causing him to kick up a large spray of ice shavings.

"Nothin' like a snow cone on a warm day, huh?" Tyler joked.

Sokka growled loudly, then went on the attack. First, Sokka made a series of punches, a few causing the ice to buckle slightly, but stay solid. Tyler managed to block and dodge the brut of them, but Sokka landed one clean on Tyler's jaw, sending him to the ice. Sokka then vaulted high into the air, brought his foot to bear, then descended rapidly, his heel targeted for Tyler's chest. Just before he could land his strike, Tyler propelled himself back to his feet and dashed from harm.

Not to be left out, Katara joined in on the fight, jumping onto the ice, then sprinting headlong for her counterpart and adversary. As if they were communicating telepathically, Sokka set his feet shoulder width apart and stuck his arms straight out to his sides. Gathering speed, Katara continued her sprint. She then jumped, landing on Sokka's shoulders. Next, she hurled herself high into the air, corkscrewed her whole body, then posed in a mantis-style strike position. While suspended above, lances of high powered water ejected from the palms of her hands.

With no time to dash, Tyler spun on the ice like a top. The jets of water impacted onto him, but harmlessly dissipated. In the blink of an eye, he came to a stop.

"Cool, huh? Learned that from Superman," Tyler noted, then bounded into the air and grasped onto Katara. "And this is a lil' somthin' somethin' I came up with on my own."

Tyler, with Katara in hold by her robe, began to spin until the two were only a blur to the watchers on the sidewalks as well as the other Benders. As Tyler spun the girl, he got a good look at her face, which was a tone or two lighter than his and though her eyes were fading and beginning to shut, he could tell that they were royal blue and her hair was white like fresh mountain snow. Even though her hair was white, her face was youthful, as if she was around Tyler's age, possibly even younger.

Switching his focus back to the task at hand, Tyler continued his stomach lurching spin. Katara fought to remain conscious, but quickly succumbed from the amount of G-forces exerted on her frame, causing her to pass out.

"Sorry, but I've gotta do this," he whispered.

Tyler released his grasp on her and the girl tumbled, heading straight down, and right into Sokka with a loud crash, the resulting impact shattering the solid ice pathway into glittering frozen ice sickles that gleamed in the early evening sunlight.

"And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you kill two birds with one stone," Tyler triumphantly announced.

The other two Benders–air and fire–stood, as if waiting for their turn while the crowd of onlookers applauded. Tyler gingerly landed on the street and got ready for his next two opponents.

"Sorry to keep you boys waiting. Shall we?" Tyler enticed, thick with confidence after knocking out the first two Benders with near-ease.

By their stagnant stature and emotionless expressions, Tyler quickly realized that these two Benders meant business. Instead of attacking him one at a time like the first two, however, Aang and Zuko performed a series of rhythmic kicks, causing their elements of air and fire to rush towards Tyler. He managed to dodge the fire attack, but the air attack–a solid wall of air–connected with his stomach, knocking the wind from him and sending Tyler to the ground.

Without hesitation, the two continued their onslaught. Tyler jumped to his feet, then quickly dodged a barrage of fire balls and wind punches intent on hitting him somewhere. One lucky fireball impacted his into his face causing Tyler to wail in momentary pain. Instinctively, he pulled his mask down from his face. Aang then flipped himself and landed a glancing kick, sending Tyler straight into a car. Following up, Zuko created a large fireball and hurled it at the crumpled car, causing the auto to explode and send Tyler flying wildly, the two Benders following right behind him.

* * *

Raven, along with her mother, Tonya, walked down Kearny Street, which was jammed back with pedestrians and cars. Although Raven wanted to go to Union Square, where all the up-scale boutiques and shops were, she had to admit that Chinatown had an interesting flair to it. Periodically, she'd catch herself looking through some of the windows of small clothing shops or at some of the passers by, admiring their attire, as well as getting ideas for her own clothing creations. 

"Mom?" Raven whined, "can we go to The Union now? I wanna check out Louis Vuitton and Prada to see if they still have my bags."

"_Your_ bags? How did you afford bags from there?" Tonya wondered.

"Well they're not _mine_ yet"–Raven then fluttered her eyes, clasped her hands together as if making a wish, then smiled brightly–"but with an advance in my allowance, they could be mine. I'd even let you use one.

"Once in a while," she smugly muttered under her breath.

"How much of an advance?" Tonya groaned, instantly picking up on the fact that her daughter wanted money.

"Oh, not much at all mommy dearest," Raven responded as sweetly as she could, then sheepishly added in, "only four-hundred and seventy five dollars. Plus tax."

"Oh, is that all?" Tonya laughed, which caused Raven to laugh as well. "Then no!"

"But mom–"

Raven was cut off by a scream that gradually became louder and the whistling sound of something falling.

"What is that?" Raven gasped as she, along with her mom, and everyone else in the immediate vicinity raised their eyes to the sky.

"Look out!" someone shouted, causing people to scatter quickly.

Raven's eyes went wide as she saw a screaming Magna Man plummet into a FedEx delivery van, smashing the vehicle effectively. As she watched him fall, time seemed to slow as she swore she could make out the face underneath his mask. In fact, he wasn't wearing his mask at all. And though he was a block down the way, from what she saw, he looked vaguely familiar.

"Rae! We've gotta get out of here!" Tonya ordered.

Raven knew Tonya was right, but she just had to see who Magna Man was.

"Mom, I gotta see him. I just gotta," Raven exclaimed then jogged off.

"Rae? Raven!"

* * *

Tyler's eyes fluttered open, only to find faces staring right back at him. His mask was around his neck and if anyone he knew happened to be nearby, his cover would be blown. 

"He's... he's just a kid. No older than my own," one guy said.

Tyler noticed a slew of people with cameras. However, to his surprise, not one was pointed at his face.

"We won't tell anyone. We promise, Mags." a lady with a reassuring smile noted, the other people gathered around him and the crumpled truck nodding in agreement.

"Thanks," Tyler responded. "But you all should evacuate now. Trouble's on the way."

"Trouble is already here," a voice boomed from just above.

While some of the crowd turned tail and ran to safety, A large handful stayed behind.

"You wanna get to Mags... you gotta go through us," the driver of the FedEx truck, a man roughly Tyler's heigh but twice his width, growled.

"That goes for me too," the woman who said he would keep his secret, added in.

More people began to form a barrier of defiance around him.

Above, Aang and Zuko glanced at each other, then back down at the citizens below.

"So be it," Zuko grumbled, then smiled in an evil manner, allowing a large fireball to materialize within his hands.

"Oh no you don't pal!" Tyler shouted.

He dug his hands into the panel van then pushed himself up into the air just as Zuko let his fireball go. Below, the people winced, waiting for the inevitable as a rush of heat pin-pricked at their bodies. Blinding pain, however, never happened. Just above them, Tyler caught the fireball before it could strike.

"I think this belongs to you," Tyler said to Zuko. "Commin' at 'cha!"

Tyler hurled the massive orb of fiery ember back at the fire bender. Unfortunately, Aang whirled his hand in a circular motion, creating a wall of air, negating the fireball. He could hear the sighs of the people as they watched his effort go for naught.

"Nice try, Hero," Zuko noted, then whooshed forward.

In mid air, Tyler and Zuko fought, hand to hand, foot to foot. Aang joined in, leaping behind Tyler and going on his attack. Tyler gritted his teeth and went on the defensive, throwing up his arms to block their kicks and punches. Before he knew it, however, the two switched positions with Zuko getting behind Tyler and Aang in front. Zuko grappled Tyler while a hurricane of fists and feet from Aang went to work on his torso, the numerous jabs making his innards feel sore and battered. Even through the onslaught, he heard something that happened to catch his attention.

"_What's up, San Francisco! You're listening to Live 105. I'm Jared–and Miles The Intern is over yonder, sitting in the corner after he broke my Buddy Holiday record during the break. While I kick his ass, you all are gonna listen to... you guessed correctly... The Gorillaz. It's coming up, it's coming up, it's DARE! Live 105..."_

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Boy! Boys! Hang on a second," Tyler announced.

Aang slugged Tyler once more in the stomach.

"Oof! I said wait a minute!" Tyler snarled, then panned down below to see where the music was coming from.

"Hey!" he called out and pointed to someone holding a boom box. "You with the ghetto blaster. Crank that up louder! They're playing my jam!."

The guy complied and increased the volume. The music gave Tyler a new found energy, which he quickly used to break free of his incarceration at the hands of Zuko. Tyler balled his fists, generating heat energy within them, then snapped his arms back. Like a crack of thunder, both of Tyler's made acquaintances with the sides of Zuko's face, the addition of the heat energy magnifying the dual strike.

Zuko's grip loosened, allowing Tyler to wrench himself free. He then snapped his leg straight out, his foot connecting under Zuko's chin and sending tumbling through the air head over heels. Following close on his heels, Tyler snagged the foot of Zuko's robe, stopping the fire bender's inertia and coming to a stop. He then snapped the robe, forcing Zuko back towards Tyler.

Aang raced to assist his associate.

"I hope you can still fight without any air in your lungs," he exclaimed.

The air around Aang began to swirl. He removed his hood, revealing a completely shaven head. On the top of his head, there was a large tattoo of a simple light blue arrow that had a point that ended at his forehead. His eyes began to glow a brilliant white as the air around him became more violent. It was then that Tyler saw that Aang was just a kid, easily four or five years younger than himself. Yet, of the four Element Benders, he seemed to be the most advanced and in tune with his element.

Next, Aang moved his right hand in a waxing manner.

"Wax on, wax off," Tyler thought aloud.

"Hardly," Aang smirked.

Aang pulled his hands back, put his body in a sturdy position, then rushed his hands forward, sending a small tornado straight for Tyler–more specifically his face with the intent to suck the air and life clean from within. Tyler managed to pull his mask partially over his face, covering his mouth. Still, the funnel of air hit its mark. He lost his grip on Zuko, who fell onto an air conditioning unit of one of the buildings in Chinatown. Tyler's eyes shot wide open and he clutched his throat, attempting to hold on to any bit of air left in his lungs, which were being deflated like balloons. To no avail, his eyes began to roll back into their sockets as he blacked out and dropped from the sky.

* * *

Raven watched the madness that ensued. She wished she was one of those people who crowded around him earlier and got a clear view of his face. She, along with everyone else, watched as he fell from the sky and crashed into the pavement. 

"Oh man. Oh man, oh man, oh man," she chanted as the crowd ran to Magna Man's aid.

Once there, she saw his face–at least part of it. His eyes, though barely open, were an emerald green. His hair was had a neatness, yet still wild spike and was a glossy black, except for a few strands at the front that were platinum white, while his skin was a dark tan or caramel-mahogany concoction. If Raven didn't know any better, she would have sworn that he looked familiar. Too familiar.

"Is he alright?" a man asked.

"Someone should give him CPR," another person noted.

Everyone then noticed Magna Man begin to muster, then get up, still gasping for air.

"Okay, people, back up. Give the boy some air," Raven exclaimed, to which everyone complied. "Go get 'em Maggie! Kick some a–"

"Raven!" Tonya exclaimed.

"Sorry, Mom."

_

* * *

Oh great. Of all places, Rae just had to be here, Tyler thought. __Hopefully she doesn't know._ He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and tried to re-inflate his lungs. Tyler then looked up. Aang was still there, suspended above. With that, Tyler pulled his mask completely over his face, then leapt into the air. _Can't let another mistake like that happen again,_ he thought to himself. , Tyler thought. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and tried to re-inflate his lungs. Tyler then looked up. Aang was still there, suspended above. With that, Tyler pulled his mask completely over his face, then leapt into the air. he thought to himself. 

"You like air, Breezy? Well lets see how you do higher up," Tyler growled.

Before Aang could mount another attack, Tyler grabbed his arms, then rocketed straight upwards.

"Y'know, a wise man once said, 'Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'!" Tyler called out over the wind created by their speed.

He took a quick look back at Aang, who was beginning to shiver as the temperature began to drop rapidly from their altitude.

"Well, kid. It's been fun, but I've gotta go meet the parents. So I need to wrap this up."

Still rising, Tyler then whirled Aang around and around. He then hurled the boy away, up into the higher regions of the atmosphere.

* * *

"Whoa," Raven gasped. 

"That was..." Tonya began, but trailed off, not able to find the words.

A slurry of police officers now took up positions, interviewing those who saw the events. Soon, news crews flowed in.

"Hey! There he is! Magna Man!" a person yelled and waved frantically.

Everyone–officers, citizens, and media, alike, raised their eyes to the sky as they watched Magna Man streak past, giving everyone a curt salute and thumb's up.

"There's no way that could have been him." Raven said to herself. "Could it have been?"

To Raven, he looked so familiar, but there was no way that could have been Tyler. If it was him, however, she wouldn't be surprised at all.

* * *

Tyler double-timed it home. On his flight, he happened to see a clock, stating that it was 6:30. Normally, that would be more than enough time for him to get ready, but this was a different occasion. He wanted to look better than his best. 

Once in his backyard, Tyler deactivated his powers and dropped to the ground. Quietly, he opened the back door, only to hear Eva listening and singing to a Beatles cd. Silently, he snuck through the kitchen and dove though the doorway leading downstairs to his room.

"Whew," he breathed, then grabbed some clean underwear and raced back up the stairs.

In the bathroom, Tyler started up the shower, stripped out of his clothes, then got in.

"Hot! Ooh! Too hot!" he yelped, grabbing the faucet knobs and adding in some more cold water. "Alright, Tyler. Calm down. This'll be easy. Just go, make a good impression, and call it a night."

Once he was clean, Tyler put his underwear and tee shirt on and raced back downstairs, nearly tripping over Kia in the process. He took a quick check at his alarm clock.

"Six forty-five."

Taking a deep breath, he calmed his nerves and shuffled through his clothing. He settled on a pair of black slacks and a crisp royal blue dress shirt. He then grabbed his shoes–a pair of brown renaissance-style boots that reached up to just below his knees–examined them for blemishes or scuffs, then put them on. Finally, he put on his dark red tie, grabbed his reflective yellow jacket and helmet, then took one last check of the clock.

"Six fifty-five. Cutting it kinda close."

Tyler opened the garage door, threw his jacket and helmet on, pushed his motorcycle outside, then quickly slammed the door down and shut.

* * *

Chelsea sat by her bedroom window awaiting Tyler's arrival. She was nervous as this was the first time her parents had ever met a boyfriend. They _had_ seen him, however–once at a police station and once at a hospital. Not really an ideal choice of locales. She took a glance at her clock, as it read 6:59. Just then, she saw him arrive on his motorcycle. Grinning brightly, she hopped from her seat at the edge of her bed and darted down to the front door. 

"He's here!" she called out.

Chelsea's mother, Karen, emerged from the kitchen. She had never officially met Tyler, but if he was half as good as he seemed to make her daughter feel, she knew he would be a keeper.

"Mom, I can't wait for you to meet him." Chelsea gushed. "Where's Dad?"

"He's in his office." Karen responded.

Chelsea took a deep breath, then opened the door.

* * *

Tyler, with his helmet slung under his arm, was about to press the doorbell. Just then, the door opened. 

"Tyler!" Chelsea screeched, then embraced him in a tight hug and gave him a small peck on his cheek. "You smell nice. And you've got on a tie."

"Sorry I'm late. I... had to go out to the airport to pick up my mom." Tyler explained–lied.

"It's okay. You're actually right on time." Chelsea said, releasing him from her grasp, though he didn't really want her to let him go just yet.. "And this is my mom."

"It's great to finally meet you, Tyler. We've heard so much about you." Karen smiled.

Tyler stuck his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

To his shock, Karen just glanced at his hand, then embraced him in a hug as well. "Call me Karen...or Misses Daniels... or mom. 'Ma'am' makes me feel old."

Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler saw Chelsea beaming proudly. When Karen released him from her hug, Tyler noticed that she was almost the spitting image of Chelsea if Chelsea was an adult. Signs of aging were evident as there were small creases in the corners of her eyes and mouth, yet her face still had the same angular beauty much like her daughter's.

"Please, come in. Dinner'll be ready in a few minutes."

Chelsea took him by the hand and led him inside. She noticed that he seemed to be shaking slightly which caused her to giggle over his awkwardness.

"What's go you laughing?" he asked.

"You're shaking," she noted.

"Yeah. I guess I am." he replied. "And you look lovely. As usual."

Chelsea got in front of him, looked up at his eyes, then said, "You are so good to me. I love you, Tyler."

"Chelsea Daniels? I love you too," he responded, staring her right back into her eyes, which he then whispered, "Your mom's watching us."

Sure enough, Karen peeked her head from around a corner, a big toothy grin on her face–a grin exactly like Chelsea's. Just then, Chelsea's father emerged from his office. He wasn't tall, maybe a few inches taller than Chelsea, give or take, but he had an intimidation factor that caused Tyler to take a step back from Chelsea.

"Daddy? This is Tyler. Tyler? This is my dad, Keith," Chelsea introduced.

Nervously, Tyler smiled. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Likewise," Keith noted. "Come with me to my office so we can have a little chat, Tyler."

Terrified, Tyler glanced at Chelsea, who motioned him on. "Right away, sir."

Wishing he had some intel before getting into this, he reluctantly followed. Inside of his office, Keith beckoned for Tyler to take a seat, which Tyler complied without a word. Keith took a seat behind his desk. Inside, the office was adorned with numerous certificates and plaques as well as one wall lined with multi-colored books.

"Jack," Keith said gruffly, pulling out a bottle of vintage Jack Daniels liquor from one of the drawers in his desk as well as two shot glasses.

"Uh, no thank you. I'm–" Tyler began.

He poured a few fingers worth into each glass and passed one to Tyler. "I wasn't offering."

"Of course, sir," Tyler murmured, then gulped down the liquor, which burned as it traveled down his throat.

"Listen, son. I'm gonna be frank. Your they boy dating my daughter therefore I don't like you one bit. But for the sake of my Chelsea, since you seem to make her happy, I'll _attempt_ to accept you. But I swear on everything holy that if you hurt her in any way, I'll swear to God I'll cut your penis off and feed it to you. And that won't even be the worst thing. Do I make myself clear?"

The thought of hurting Chelsea in any way, shape, or form, irked Tyler to the bone. Defiantly, he stared down Keith. "Sir? I would never do anything to hurt Chelsea. Never. But yes, sir. You make yourself crystal clear."

* * *

At the dinner table, Tyler fiddled with his food. It smelled good–as it was an interesting Italian dish–however, the taste was different. He knew that Chelsea was a vegetarian, but the fake meat in the dish had a strange spongy texture, not to mention that it had no flavor. 

"How is everything, Tyler?" Karen asked.

"Excellent, ma'am–I mean, Misses Daniels." Tyler said.

"So, Tyler. What are your plans for after high school?" Keith inquired.

"Well, sir, I-I hope to get a scholarship to a flight school. But if that doesn't happen, I'd like to go to the air force."

"So you want to be a pilot?" Karen asked.

Tyler nodded.

"Hmm," Keith huffed. "The air industry isn't what it was a decade ago. You'd have to be a damn good flyer to make it."

"Dad!" Chelsea hissed through clenched teeth.

"Well, sir. The worst thing I could do is not try." Tyler responded.

"I think becoming a pilot is a very respectable profession, Tyler," Karen said.

"Well then... have you and my daughter had sex yet?" Keith abruptly asked.

"Dad!"

"Keith!"

"What? He's a boy with raging hormones going out with my daughter." Keith explained. "So, Tyler? Have you and my precious daughter fu–"

"Of course not, sir!" Tyler interjected.

"Why? She not good enough for you or something?"

"Keith! Stop it!"

Tyler looked over at Chelsea, who had a saddened embarrassed look, which caused Tyler's blood to boil. "Sir? The last thing I would_ ever_ do is something to your daughter that she wouldn't want. She means the world to me and the honest truth is I'm not good enough for her."

"You're right about one thing," Keith noted. "You're not good enough for her. The other times that I had the _pleasure_ of finding you and my daughter together, you two were either in a police station or hospital. I am grateful that you protected my Chelsea, but those incidents were most likely your fault."

"Keith! That's enough!" Karen snapped.

"No–maybe he's right. I-I think I've spent too much time here. I should go," Tyler conceded.

With that, he removed himself from the table and grabbed his coat and helmet. Chelsea intercepted him at the door.

"Tyler? Please, I'm sorry. I-I–" she began.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll see you later, okay?" he whispered as sweetly as possible.

A stray tear trickled down the side of her face, which Tyler mopped up with one of his fingers. He then gave Chelsea a kiss on her forehead. Karen then walked in.

"Thank you for inviting me into your home, Misses Daniels." Tyler politely said, then walked out the door.


	22. Chapter 22

**I Am SO Sorry For Leaving Y'all Hanging For So Long. The Life Of A College Student-Worker Is A Busy One... Anyway, Without Further Adieu, Here's Chapter 22

* * *

Chapter 22: Epilogue: Acceptance **

Back home, Tyler ripped off his tie and tossed it. He then removed his clothing and changed into his green coveralls. The whole time, he was furious about what happened, not really at Chelsea's father however, but the fact that he didn't gather any information so he could have avoided any confrontation all together. Tyler was also frustrated that he didn't do what he had intended–tell Chelsea his secret. All in all, there were too many snags and snags were things Tyler didn't want.

"So where'd you run off too all jazzed up?" Eva asked, walking down the steps into Tyler's room.

"Chelsea wanted me to meet her parents," Tyler responded, zipping up his coveralls.

Eva could obviously tell that he was irritated, but she decided to press forward. "So? How'd it go?"

Tyler sighed. "It could've went better. Her dad hates me and the food was vegetarian."

"Oh, sweetie." Eva chuckled. "All dad's hate the guys that date their daughters. It's natural. Hell, you should have heard some of the things my dad said to the boys I brought home."

Tyler thought aloud. "And Grandpa's a retired Marine. I'm sure he would have followed through with his threats."

"Exactly," Eva said. "And don't forget, you're not like most teenage boys, Tyler."

A small grin appeared on Tyler's face. "Thanks, Mom."

* * *

Chelsea lay on her bed in her room, just staring out her window. She didn't want to be anywhere her father after ruining what could have been a perfect evening. Knowing that Tyler was probably not in the mood to talk, she grabbed her phone and called up Raven. 

"_Girl, I'm glad you called. Guess what? I saw Magna Man up close!" _Raven blurted into the phone.

"That's great, Rae," Chelsea said in a lack-luster tone.

"_Oh my gosh, Chelse, he was all tall and cute. Well, I only saw part of his face. But he had great hair. And also, he was fighting some flying people, one of which could shoot fire and the other could shoot air and... Chelse, it was a trip!"_

"Yeah, that's nice," Chelsea sighed.

"_Something wrong, Chelse?_" Raven asked, picking up on the fact that her friend wasn't her normal enthusiastic self.

"Well... me and Tyler–"

"_You two broke up? Wha–"_

"Oh no! The dinner with my parents. It went horrible all thanks to my dad."

Chelsea began to explain what happened while Raven listened. As she recounted the events, tears began to well up in her eyes.

"_Oh man, Chelse. I'm sorry. Are you gonna be okay?"_

"Yeah. I mean, Rae, I just don't get it. Tyler was being a perfect gentleman and mom even liked him. He even called dad 'sir.'"

"_I know, Chelse. Listen, how about I call up Eddie, then you and him can come by and we can have our classic Friday movie night."_

"That sounds good, but I really think I should go over to Tyler's and apologize." Chelsea said.

"_Well, I've never been to his place. I'll call Eddie then we'll meet at your place in ten. Then we can all go to Tee's place."_

Before Chelsea could say anything, Raven hung up her phone. She was grateful that Raven felt she needed her best friends to be with her, but she felt she needed some alone time with Tyler. At that moment, something then crossed her mind: sex. She and Tyler had come close to moving on past the next level, but it didn't happen. Chelsea also noticed that Tyler never tried to "get in her pants" like a normal teenage boy would do. It was always her choice. Sure, she appreciated it, but this was like uncharted territory.

* * *

Instead of toiling in his room alone, Tyler sat on the upstairs couch with Kia and watched the show "Mail Call" on the History Channel. The host, R. Lee Ermey, a retired Marine like his grandpa, always made Tyler laugh. Periodically, however, his thoughts went elsewhere, particularly to the events at Chelsea's house as well as his fight with the Element Benders and the fact that Raven was right there. She already knew about his true past, so the fact of her finding about his alter ego wouldn't be a shock at all. 

"Mom? I've gotta tell her." Tyler said out of the blue.

Eva, who was sitting in the dining room, looked up from her project. "Gotta tell what to who?"

"I have to tell Chelsea about who I am. The _true_ me."

"Wow. You must really care about this girl, huh?" Eva said.

Tyler remained silent.

Eva continued. "Well, kid, if I can offer you any advice, just be careful."

Tyler peered over his shoulder in her direction. Noticing the confused look on his face, Eva began to explain herself.

"Teenage girls are very fragile emotionally. It could all be too much for her to handle."

"I will, Mom. Thanks."

Just then, there was a knock at the front door. Tyler hopped up from the couch, went to the front door, and opened it–only to find Chelsea. But she wasn't alone as Raven and Eddie were standing beside her.

"Uh... hi?" Tyler said to his unexpected guests.

"Yeah, hey what's up," Raven and Eddie said, pushing Tyler out of the way and entering the house.

"Yes... I please do come in," Tyler said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Tyler. They wanted to hang out and I wanted to come here and–" Chelsea tried to explain as she stood in the doorway.

"Don't sweat it," Tyler interrupted with a smile. "So are you doing okay?"

Chelsea managed a weak smile and nodded.

"Well... I guess it's time for you to meet my mom, then."

Tyler introduced everyone to Eva. Once they formally met, Tyler led them to the backyard, knowing what he had to do. The four settled down on the lawn chairs on the deck.

"Nothin' like a warm Friday night in the city," Chelsea mused.

"Nothin' like being at the mall on a warm Friday night," Raven noted.

Tyler stayed quiet as he stared up into the night sky, just thinking as Eddie, Raven, and Chelsea conversed with each other and munched on some snacks that Eddie brought. Tyler was positive that once he told his secret, his whole world would come crashing down. _Well, maybe not,_ he thought. _Rae took it pretty good and Jennifer took it okay._

Finally, it was time.

"You guys? There's... uh... something I need to tell you." Tyler started.

"What's up, Tee?" Eddie asked.

Tyler stood up and leaned against the wooden railing that surrounded the deck. As he did so, he kept his eyes plastered to the sky above and took a deep breath.

"It's pretty obvious that me and my mom are... way different," he began.

"Well duh. You were adopted." Eddie noted.

Tyler turned his gaze to the floor boards of the deck. "Well that's not entirely true."

Raven, Eddie, and Chelsea focused their eyes on him, while Tyler continued to down stare at the wooden boards. It finally hit Raven as to what Tyler was doing.

"What 'chu talkin' 'bout, Tyler?" Eddie asked.

"Well... I'm a runaway."

"A 'runaway' from what?" Chelsea inquired. "Your real parents or something?"

"No. Fact is, I've got no parents, no family. I was–" he paused to search for the right words– "constructed in a place where I was... trained. And when I turned seven, I ran away."

For a moment, there was a long silence, until Chelsea and Eddie burst out laughing hysterically.

"Oh man, Tee. That is classic," Eddie exclaimed, wiping some tears from his face due to laughing so hard.

Chelsea hunched over trying to catch her breath. "Rae? Wasn't that funny? I mean, how he was able to keep a straight face and spew all that?"

From Raven's lack of a response, the two looked over at her. Raven's face was solemn, a dead seriousness within her eyes. "You guys? He ain't joking."

Eddie began to laugh even harder. "So you're in on it too?"

Tyler thought for a moment, then was hit with an idea. "Maybe if I show you, then you'll believe me. All three of you, sit on Chelsea's chair and stay perfectly still."

Reluctantly, Eddie and Raven took a seat on the lawn chair that Chelsea was sitting on. Once they were settled, Tyler came up in front of the trio. With puzzled looks on their faces, they nervously exchanged glances with each other, not sure of what was about to happen.

"Don't freak out, now. Just sit still," Tyler warned, then, with one hand, grabbed the lawn chair by its railing and lifted it up as if it was nothing.

Chelsea, Eddie, and Raven yelped at first, shutting their eyes tightly as Tyler effortlessly held them suspended over his head.

"Okay! Put us down!" Raven demanded.

"Alright, alright. Chill. I wasn't gonna drop you." Tyler groaned.

Slowly, Tyler set the lawn chair, loaded down with his three friends, back onto the deck. Eddie, nearly on the verge of hyperventilating, clutched his chest, acting as if he nearly had a heart attack. Raven sat, wide eyed and perfectly still. She already knew what he was capable of, but never actually experienced it. Chelsea's reaction, however, mattered most to Tyler. She stared at him, her mouth slightly ajar from the shock.

"W-what else can you do?" Eddie stammered.

"Well..." Tyler thought for a moment. "I can sort of _feel _things before they happen. My nerves are highly sensitive. Almost three times that of a normal person.

"Also, my brain is half mechanical, allowing me to think and react like"–Tyler snapped his fingers–"that."

"So you're partially made of metal?" Eddie asked, now leaning forward with piqued interest.

Tyler chuckled. "No. But I do have a lot of bio-mechanics within me. There is some metal, though. Mainly at my joints so I don't dislocate anything. There's also a little bit in my brain that in the event I was... terminated... my... creators... could extract some of my mental cortex and see what happened and what I was thinking."

"So are your thoughts like digitalized or something?" Eddie wondered.

"In a way. Think of it as a small internal computer that's programmed, but can still learn." Tyler explained.

Chelsea's gazed turned to one that had anger within it. "So are you saying that everything about you is... not real? It was just like... a computer game? Programmed? Why didn't you tell me? You said you loved me, but obviously not enough to tell me this sooner."

Tyler couldn't say anything. He badly wanted to tell her sooner, but how she would have reacted was what barred him from doing so. Even with all his brain cyberization, he couldn't find the words.

"Chelse? He wanted to. Badly," Raven spoke.

"How would you know Rae?" Chelsea asked, trying to hold her own emotions in check.

"Because... I read his mind. I found out about him without him telling me until he finally did. The day Ben shot him."

Chelsea looked at Raven, then back at Tyler, who was looking down at the wooden deck. "So... on that day when Ben–"

"That was my human side. Even if I didn't have the ceramic-polymer coated bones and bio-mech stuff in me, I'd have done it anyway." Tyler noted.

"And you would have died," Eddie implied.

"Probably," Tyler said. "And also, Chelse, when I said... you know... that was the part of my brain that they couldn't turn into a computer. That came from the heart.

"And there is also another reason why I wanted to keep this from you all. My creators are still out there, probably looking for me. And if they found out about you guys, they'd..." Tyler stopped himself not wanting to fathom what could happen to them.

Chelsea stood up, walked over to Tyler, then took his hands and stared him dead in his eyes. "So please tell me... when you hold me, kiss me, say you love me, who was doing that?"

Tyler took a deep breath as Eddie and Raven watched on, awaiting his answer. As he looked into her eyes, he could see his reflection as well as moisture beginning to well.

"Chelsea? That was me. And only me."

A large smile curled her lips hearing those words. Tightly, she wrapped her arms around Tyler, embracing him. Even though he was augmented, she didn't care as he still had the same warmth and comforting feeling that he always had whenever she was near him.

"Aww man... I-I think I feel a group hug coming!" Raven and Eddie both announced.

"Hold up, this isn't a community hug!" Tyler exclaimed, but to no avail as he and Chelsea were sandwiched in tightly between Raven and Eddie.

* * *

As Raven and Eddie went off on their own respective ways, Tyler walked Chelsea back to her house, only to find her father standing on the stoop of their home. 

"Oh damn," Chelsea muttered under her breath.

Now that Tyler had told her about his true self and she accepted it, dealing with Chelsea's dad would be a cake walk.

"Don't worry, Chelse. This'll be nothing." Tyler consoled.

"So? Where have you two been?" Keith's voice boomed.

"I was at Tyler's house," Chelsea responded, her voice laced with defiance.

"As were Raven and Eddie, Sir." Tyler added in.

Keith huffed. ""Go inside, Chelsea. I need to have another talk with Tyler."

_Great. Round two: ding!_ Tyler thought. Chelsea was about to say something, but Tyler motioned for her to do as he said. However, in an act of rebellion, Tyler grabbed Tyler by his face then planted a long, forceful kiss on his lips. When she retracted, she glared at her father, then marched into the house.

"Sir... I-I–"

"Listen, Tyler. I can see my little girl see's something in you that she really likes... and I have to accept that." Keith stated. "Earlier, during dinner, I didn't mean those harsh words I said. I was only testing you; seeing how you would react, and you did better than I hoped.

"Fact of the matter is, I know you care for my daughter a lot and I am glad that you're with her."

Tyler beamed proudly. "I thank you, Sir."

"No need to thank me, Tyler. After you left earlier, Chelsea and Karen gave me a hell of an ear full and you do deserve an apology."

"There's no need to, Sir. If I was in you're position I would have done the same thing." Tyler implied.

"No. I do need to apologize. And thank you as well," Keith said. "I've never seen my girl this happy in a long time."

"Just being with your daughter is more thanks than I could ever need, Sir." Tyler said.

The two shook hands. Things were starting to look up now that he was on Chelsea's father's good side.

"By the way, son. I saw you had a pretty nice motorcycle." Keith smugly noted.

"Yeah. An 1150 are-tee-pee; police model."

"Hmm. I've got a 2004 Harley Electra and a '96 Road King." Keith boasted. "Wanna take a look?"

Keith lead Tyler to the garage where he found two of the most beautiful motorcycles he ever saw. Both were painted in a customized manner with blue flames on the fuel tanks of the bikes. The wheel spokes had a chrome luster that sparkled from the lighting above in the garage.

"Maybe one day we can go for a cruise around town," Keith offered.

"That would be awesome, Sir," Tyler beamed.

* * *

Ben sat on the metal chair in the interrogation room of the detention center he was thrown into. His whole life was now destroyed as he would forever have the label of felon and attempted murderer attached to his name. He tried to point to the blame to anyone else–namely Tyler–but ultimately, the roads of guilt led back to himself. 

"I'm psychic. So how could I have not seen this coming?" he asked himself, resting his elbows on the cold metal table.

All he wanted to do was die and start things all over again. He now had nobody. His parents, though they loved him, rarely visited. And if he had any friends left back at Bayside, they were apparently non-existent. Ben, however, did receive a piece of mail from the last person he would have expected: a letter from Tyler with only three briefcases–I Forgive You.

The door leading into the interrogation room suddenly opened, jarring Ben from thought. A tall man adorned in a slate gray trench coat strode in, in his hand was a medium sized brown briefcase. The figure took a seat across from Ben, set his briefcase on the table, and opened it.

"Ben, I know you are sorry for what you did," then man spoke, his tone thick with a Welsh accent. "But you were in the right. I have known this... Tyler... for a long time. The fact is, he would be better off dead."

Ben cocked his eyebrow, not believing what he was hearing. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Listen, I know you are psychic, Ben. But you have a much greater power within you." the man continued.

He then pulled out a small pouch from his briefcase and handed it to Ben.

"What's this?" Ben inquired.

"Something that will help you right the wrongs in your life. It is your ticket out of this nightmare and back into society where you belong. You are no delinquent, just a misguided soul who sought to take justice into his own hands. With the contents in that pouch, you will become judge, jury... and executioner."

Ben pulled out the contents of the pouch: a simple leather necklace with two stones–one smooth, translucent and green and the other an marbleized violet and silver–attached to it.

"Who are you?" Ben finally asked.

"My name, you wonder? I am simply known as DuPont."

* * *

**That's Right... _First_ Go-Around Is Done. But Fear Not, My Duckies... Senior Year's Coming Soon... Really Soon...**

**Thats Right! Same Magna Site, Same Magna Section!**

**Ooh Rah!**


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